Bound by a Similar Destiny
by Sightbent
Summary: A new threat has arisen in the world. Now the Legendary Warriors will have to battle it in secret in both worlds, but in doing so they will uncover a common family past that has intertwined them with the digital world since birth. 02 x 04 Crossover
1. Beginning Again

**Chapter 1**

**Beginning Again**

People tend not to worry when a problem is just out of sight. They disregard that feeling of danger and impending doom that wells up from the pit of their stomach thanks to the defenses humans have built up over years of struggling to survive. This often leads to trouble, but the trade-off is a sense of peace and the ability to go on with the normal riggers of life. Unfortunately one of those times of disharmony is quickly approaching the real and digital world.

Deep within the heart of the digital worlds Dark Area three figures stand cloaked in the shadows of a large room, only briefly illuminated every few seconds by the flash of lightning that would come crashing down from the skies above. These sudden and unpredictable flashes would streak across the room only long enough to reveal features like black wings, dull metal, and the twisted horns of the three shadowy figures that occupied the room.

As another bright splash of lightning once again fills the room with white light and countless shadows; the moving lips of the three figures become visible. It is apparent that the three are having a heated discussion, but what about is lost to the boom and crash of the constant strikes of lightning and thunder that drowned out all other sounds. Only in-between the roar of the strikes can their words be heard.

"… when will it be ready…"

"… why delay, let's go now…"

"… how to proceed…"

"… when will be the time…"

"… not until it's stained with their blood…"

"… in good time…"

Splitting the sky and crashing to the ground below came the most monstrous bolt of lightning that had been produce by the ever raging storm in a long while. In this flash of lightning the room filled with a blinding white light and the shadowy figures disappeared within it. When the light had receded it left an empty room where the three had once stood and a hollowing message lingering in the air.

"… The digidestine will pay for what they have done…"

That great bolt of lightning had become the starting shot of a new adventure and the beginning of the coming battles for the digidestine. In this coming war they would learn about the past and what part their families had played, but for now it will begin slowly and quietly.

* * *

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

The sound of an alarm filled the once quiet bedroom. As the beeping continued something underneath the bed sheets began to slowly stir. Suddenly an arm shot out from within the tangled mess of cloth and grabbed hold of a palm sized black and red device that had been left on the nightstand next to the bed and pulled it into the mass. Underneath the material the arm sleepily fiddled with the device trying to make the beeping sound stop. These movements continued until a low muttering could be heard from under covers as the person under them realized the sound had in fact not been coming from the device in their hand.

With this realization the arm once again reached out from within the sheet aiming for the alarm clock next to the bed. Unfortunately this maneuver would have gone over much better if the person in question had used their eyes instead of just blindly reaching for it. The first attempt ended with the arm hitting nothing but the air and eventually the floor as it overestimated where the clock was located. The second attempt ended with a solid thud upon the nightstand with a little bit of pain mixed in. The third attempt ensure there would be no others as it went wild and knocked the alarm off the table and onto the floor out of reach from the bed.

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

With the alarm clock now on the floor the figure under the covers realized that they would have to get up if they wanted the noise to stop. In a whoosh of fabric the sheets that had once protected the one hiding under them from the early morning sunlight, that had filled the room and bathed everything in a cheerful glow, where cast aside to reveal the beds single occupant.

Dark brown hair with hits of red is set in a messy bed head look from a night of tossing about in his sleep. Brownish red eyes that opened and closed repeatedly as they tried to adjust to the morning light that poured in through the window on the other side of the room. Lightly tanned skin from the countless hours spent outside in the sun every day. This teenage boy is Takuya Kamiya, age 15, and the digidestine of fire.

Once the sheets were removed Takuya swung his legs over the side of the bed and set them upon the floor of his room, which had been warmed by the gentle rays of the sun. With a quick push of his arms he was up off of the bed and standing on his own two legs. He took a step forward and using his bare foot pushed the alarm button to finally silence the annoying sound that had filled the bedroom for the last ten minutes. After it was quiet he released a loud yawn as he stretched his body to shake off a good night's sleep.

"I can't believe that I forgot to turn that off on one of my only mornings off." He lazily said to no one in particular. "Well since I'm up I mine as well get dressed and have some breakfast." Again he stated to empty room.

Takuya walked over to dresser on the other side of the room and quickly pulled out a pair of loose dark blue pants and a black short-sleeve shirt, both which he slipped into before returning to the side of his bed. Taking a few seconds to look his bed up and down he reached into the mess of sheets and grabbed hold of his red and black D-tector that he had left in his bed after accidently grabbing it in his early morning battle with the alarm clock. He then turned and walked over to the chair in front of his desk and picked up the crimson red leather jacket off of the back and in one swift motion put it on before slipping his D-tector into one of the inner pockets. Following this he grabbed the pair of square frame pilot's goggles that his great grandfather had given him before he died and hung them around his neck. The last accessory he needed to complete his look was also the most important device he and the other five warriors had been entrusted with by Lady Ophanimon, the Dat-X.

The Dat-X was a key that allowed Takuya and the other digidestine to open the locks that had been placed on the digital worlds gates after the defeat of Lucemon. This had been done in an effort to prevent any uninvited guests from entering the digital world and to keep digimon from entering the real world and causing trouble. With the Dat-X the digidestine could turn any computer into a digital gate and enter the digital world which would flare up with trouble every so often. The Dat-X itself was a shiny, translucent, multicolor sphere of what Takuya assumed was glass or whatever CD's were made of surrounded by four white locking mechanisms that formed a square around the ball. It was slightly bigger than the D-tectors but thinner and rested within a holster attached to his belt.

Taking the said belt and running it through the all the belt loops on the left side of his pants and purposely missing all the other loops on the right side, so that the belt would rise on his left side and fall down the side of the right leg where the Dat-X was positioned at the lowest point.

Now that he was dressed and fully armed for the day he left his room and headed for the stairs. On the way to the stairs Takuya caught sight of himself in a mirror attached to one of the walls along the hallway. He took this time to look himself up and down and reflect on the past four years. He remembered how he and the rest of the team had originally thought that after defeating Lucemon that it was going to be the end of their digital adventures. In a year's time this would prove to have been a false assumption when they were once again contacted by the rejuvenated Lady Ophanimon, who now pleaded with them to return and save the digital world. Once again they took up the spirits and fought against the evil army of digimon that had arisen within the digital world until they reached the main cause of all the problems they faced this time around, Barbarmon. Just like Lucemon this digimon was extremely powerful and evil. It was at this time that the digidestine learned of the Seven Great Demon Lords to which Lucemon had belonged.

The battle with Barbarmon was a hard fought one, only coming to an end with the reappearance of Susanoomon. At the end of this battle the Three Great Angels had decided to permanently entrust the six of them with the spirits and the Dat-X. This would prove to be a wise decision since only six months later another of the Seven Great Demon Lords would appear to threaten both worlds.

This demon lord had been called Leviamon, a monstrous digimon who could easily be mistaken for a large red island. This battle would take place in a world the warriors had never seen before. It was neither the digital world nor the real world, it was something new. The place they fought was black and white with all the shades of grey in between and gave off a strange uneasy feeling. For each of them what they felt from that place had been different. For some it was fear for others it had been anger or even a sense of wanting, even now Takuya can't remember what he had felt while there, he just knew he like the rest didn't want to ever see that place again.

It was in the battle with Leviamon that the warriors had learned something important about their connection with their spirits. They discovered that the stronger that they themselves became the stronger their digimon forms became. Since the incident with Barbarmon they had taken up different types of training to make themselves stronger in case they had to return to action again. This hard work paid off when the powered up EmperorGreymon and MagnaGarurumon were able to take down Leviamon without having to fuse together into Susanoomon. The six months following the fight with Leviamon were peaceful, which the digidestine took advantage of to continue training and go to school.

Soon that peace would be broke by yet another call from Lady Ophanimon to return to the digital world. They once again entered to digital world expecting to be told they would have to fight yet another of the Seven Great Demon Lords. That was not the case this time. They had been called so that Lady Ophanimon could inform them that uncontrollable rifts in the digital world had begun appearing and evil digimon were coming through them into both the digital world and the real world. The warriors would now have to act as a peace keeping force by protecting the digital world when called and hunting down evil rouge digimon in secret in the real world before they caused any trouble.

This is how they've been living the last two years. Living like normal children, going to school, playing sports and having fun. While secretly defending the two worlds from the Rifted digimon, as they had knick-named them, and trying to get in as much training as they could in-between. They were just like any normal group of teenagers he thought to himself.

"Yeah, just like any group of teenagers that has to battle the forces of evil as legendary beings from a different dimension and prepare for High School Entrance Exams, which are much scarier than any of the Demon Lords." Takuya exhaled with a sarcastic tone, which if anyone had heard they would have sworn it sounded like he was somewhat happy about this.

Takuya quickly moved down the steps until he got half way down them, stopped and grabbed hold of the banister and jumped over the side falling the remaining distance to the first floor. He landed on his feet with both a trained grace and a loud thud that shook everything nearby.

"Takuya Kamiya! Every morning you do that! One of these times you're going to hurt yourself!" rang the voice of Takuya's mother from the kitchen.

As Takuya entered the kitchen he noticed that whatever conversation his parents had been having before he entered the room had stopped. Despite the semi-weird atmosphere he greeted his father and mother with a good morning before sitting down, waiting to be served some breakfast.

"You're up early today. I thought you were taking the week off from your morning routine to prepare for exams?" Takuya's father asked between sips of his morning coffee. In response Takuya lets off an uneasy laugh "You know me I just can't lay around, I'm just that good…" while rubbing the back of his neck in a nervous way hoping that his parents wouldn't catch onto the real reason.

Takuya's father was a tall man who was still a good foot taller than his son. He had brown hair which was cut much shorter then compared to its length when he was his son's age. He had the same brown eyes as his son but his skin was a darker tan then Takuya's and his face held some slight differences. Anyone could easily tell they were father and son, even with a quick glance, and if they got to know their personalities there would be no doubt. This man was Taichi Kamiya, the leader of the first generation of digidestine and the digidestine of courage. This fact was sadly still a secret from his two sons, as was the fact that his eldest son had become a digidestine and taken up the mantel of leader of his own team. If Tai had know he would have been even prouder of the son sitting across from him then he already was.

Takuya actually held a deep respect for his father not only for being the man who raised him, shared half his DNA, and taught him so many things. Takuya was also proud of all the things his father had achieved. Tai had gone to college and finished with honors, which really surprised everyone, then he went on to play professional soccer for a few years, the highlight being that he was selected to be part of Japans World Cup team and brought home victory. Tai would retire after only a few years to get married to the love of his life and start a family. The fact that he went out at the top of his career as one of the greats was so cool to Takuya. Tai was now activate in local politics and was considering running for a political position in a few years.

*THWACK*

Suddenly Takuya felt an impact against the back of his head. While he held the sore spot a voice from above caught on to the truth for his early rise. "I'm sure you just forgot to turn off the alarm before you went to sleep last night." his mother stated with an air of confidence while Takuya began to rub the sore spot. An uneasy laugh from her son as he stared at the wooden spoon in her hand told her that she was right. The fiery red head always saw through her two sons and husband, although lately there were certain things about Takuya she just couldn't read for some reason.

Who is this redheaded family manager and mother of two. She is none other Sora Takenouchi, well Sora Kamiya for the last eighteen years now and the digidestine of love. The mother figure of the first generation was now a true mother with two kids of her own to watch over. She was about the same height as her eldest son; in a few short months he would be taller than her. Sora now had shoulder length hair that closely resembled that of her eldest sons except for the color and length. In her opinion her hair, nose, and a shade off from her eye color were the only thing Takuya got from her. Shinya on the other hand looked more like her then his father.

She had gone to a different college then Tai so they had to make a go at a long distance relationship, they were one of the lucky couples whose love had stood the test of distance. After college she had traveled with Tai while he played soccer, all the time design and drawing new ideas trying to get her name out there. Eventually Tai proposed and they got married. Tai then retired so that they could lay down roots and start a family, three years later Takuya was born and their happy family began to take shape. Sora now worked as a fashion designer with her own little shop, this kept the family in all the best fashions and looking shape. She was very happy with the life the four of them had built and now shared together.

"Takuya why did your father and I even spend the money on steps if you're not going to use them?" Sora huffed from behind Takuya.

Takuya tilled his head back and looked her directly in the eyes before he said, "The stairs are there for you mom." For this comment Takuya earned two things, a laugh from his father and a whack to the forehead from the wooden spoon in his mother's hand.

As Takuya continued to rub the sore spot that was now on the front of his head his mother set down a plate of food in front of him. He took a break from his pain to focus on a higher need, his stomach. While devouring his breakfast Takuya always remember how grateful he was for his mothers cooking after coming back from the digital world. When Takuya was almost done with his breakfast a sudden burst of pings began to emanate from the cell phone in his jacket pocket. To Takuya this meant only one thing, his quiet morning breakfast was over, he had work to do.

Quickly shoveling the last bit of food off of his plate and into his mouth, he pick up his plate dropped it in the sink and ran out of the kitchen mumbling a goodbye and thank you to his mother and father, while trying to swallow his food. Takuya bolted to the door and grabbed his red and black sneakers from the entry way. He attempted to put the shoes on as he exited the house, resulting in him hopping the first few steps out the door as he tried to get the left shoe on his foot. Final it slipped on and with that Takuya was off and running down the path leading to the street that ran past his house. With one last turn he yelled out, "I'll probably be home late! See you all tonight!" before turning again and running out of view, hoping that at least somebody in his family had heard him.

As soon as Takuya was around the corner and out of the sight of his house he pulled the silver and crimson cell phone out of his pocket and opened it to reveal a 3-D map of the area being projected from the screen with a blue flashing target about a mile ahead of him. As he ran he hoped that he would make it before the target turned red. The blue target indicated where a rift had appeared and where a Rifted would soon to appear.

Looking at the map Takuya recognized the location as being that of the old car manufacturing plant that had closed down about five years ago. He knew the location well since this wasn't the first time he'd gone there in response to a rift opening. Somehow those kinds of places really attracted the rifts, which was good for them since those places were big and deserted. They made for the perfect place to have a battle in secret.

After a few minutes of running Takuya reached the empty parking lot just as the target turned red and the Rifted appeared. This time he lucked out it was an easy one, a Dark Tyranomon, he would be done in no time and still be able to meet up with his fellow digidestine so that they could walk to school together. Even if he would be a little late meeting up with them. Takuya took off running towards the emerging dino while pulling out his D-tector. The first thing Dark Tyranomon did after exiting the rift was to prepare his fire breath attack. As the flames began to lick the roof of the dark digimons mouth his attention was suddenly pulled away from the building it was targeting to the sudden flash of blue light to its left. The last thing that this Rifted saw was the red-hot flaming claws of BurningGreymon as they ripped across its line of sight.

After completing his quick transformation to BurningGreymon and even quicker finishing attack Takuya transformed back in a rush of fire and fractal code just in time to see Dark Tyranomon let out a low roar and burst into little bits of data. Just like he had thought, this one was way too easy.

"Alright done already!", "Got to get to Kouji's before he yells at me for being late… again…" Takuya yelled to himself before running off in the direction of his friends.

Unnoticed by Takuya an expensive black car pulled into the parking lot just as he ran off down an alley using a short cut he had found after his last time at the auto plant. Had Takuya been a few seconds slower the driver would have seen him, but luck was on his side and the drive only saw an empty parking lot devoid of people or digimon.

The car makes one loop around the lot before if pulls in to the center of the lot and parks. A few seconds later the car door opens and out steps a man in a sports jacket and jeans holding an open laptop. He looks around the lot as he sets the laptop down on the roof of the car and begins to enter some complex information into the computer until he receives an error message. With this failure he hangs his head saying "I don't get it, how could it have just disappeared?" He turns to the computer again hits a few more keys, sighs, and sits down in the driver's seat to think.

* * *

Back at the Kamiya household…

A few moments ago Tai and Sora had just gotten their youngest son off on his way to school so they final had the house to themselves. Sora returned to the kitchen after having watched Shinya turn the corner from the front door. She sat down across from her husband and began to take some sips from her coffee.

After taking a few sips of his own Tai starts up the conversation that had been put on hold when Takuya had entered the kitchen, "It's hard to believe that it's been eighteen years since we last saw the digital world." Tai then looks down with a sad face and adds "And eighteen years since we've seen them."

At the mention of them their minds go to memories of a certain orange dinosaur and pink bird. Grabbing hold of his wife's hands Tai reassures her, "We will see them again, I'm sure of it. And look at how much we have to show them. They will be excited to meet Takuya and Shinya, as well as the rest of the kids."

Sora lets out a bright smile before leaning over the table and kissing he husband on the forehead. "Your right." "I do feel bad about not being able to share the digital world with the children. It meant so much to us and now we can't make the children part of that if we can't take them there. It feels like where leaving them out of an important part of our lives, Tai."

"I know what you're saying Sora, I know." he replied.

* * *

To be continued…


	2. Walking Together

**Chapter 2**

**Walking Together**

The short battle with Dark Tyranomon still fresh in his mind Takuya made his way to his first stop of the morning. While in transit he recalled that the first Rift Digimon he and the others had faced had also been a Dark Tyranomon. At the end of that battle they had learned an important difference between regular digimon and Rift Digimon. Besides from the obvious fact that they only wanted to destroy things and came from a rift, Rift Digimon possessed no fractal code to digitize and they didn't return to the digital world as an egg when defeated. They just disappeared in a burst of digital bits.

"Where do they come from? Why are they different then the digimon found in the digital world? It's almost like they aren't really digimon." Takuya contemplated to himself.

Turning the next corner Takuya could now see the bright red roof surrounded by black and brown ones that signified his first stop. The house with the bright red roof belonged to his Aunt Hikari Takaishi and Uncle Takeru Takaishi who had saved up a long time to buy their dream house in which to raise their young son.

As Takuya got closer to the house he could see the happy family standing outside on lawn talking, most likely about the coming day or what was for dinner that night. Getting even closer to them Takuya spotted the person he had come all this way to meet. He was standing next to his father and looking up at them as the family continued to talk.

When Takuya got close enough for them to hear him he called out to the young boy, "Hey Tommy, been waiting long?" In response to this the boy spun around to greet him.

This young boy is Tomoki Takaishi, or Tommy as he liked to be called by his friends. He is the digidestine of ice and the youngest member of the legendary warriors. Tommy was now thirteen years old and quite a bit taller than he was during their first adventure four years ago. He was about a foot shorter than his role model Takuya and had short brown hair covered up by a hat. To anyone who knew his father as a child this hat would have look very familiar since it once belonged to T.K. years ago. Tommy had found it in a box in the attic a short time after he had out grown the one he worn in digital world. His eyes were a greenish blue given to him by his father, but much of his facial features came from his mother giving him a smooth and gentle look.

Today he was wearing a pair of light blue pants and a pair of white shoes. Tommy wore a white short-sleeve shirt with the Kanji for ice drawn on the front, and a dark blue and red short-sleeve over shirt. On his right arm he wore an ice blue wrist band given to him by Takuya for one of his birthdays. Clipped to his white belt was a new digital camera he had received from his parents for his birthday. It seems that his mother had gotten him interested in photography lately, so now Tommy was always clicking away making sure to avoid anything that would reveal anything about the digital world.

Looking at him now Takuya still couldn't believe that he hadn't recognize him as being his little cousin the whole time they were in the digital world, even after learning the boy's full name. He attributed this to the fact that he hadn't seen Tommy since he was five and he was using the nick-name Tommy instead of Tomoki which was his given name.

It had actually came as a big surprise to both of them when a few days after they returned home for the digital world. Takuya's parents had decided that they had gotten to wrapped up in work and four years was way too long not to have visited their friends, and especially family. So they dropped by Kari and TK's apartment, this was before they bought their house and moved just a few blocks away, along with Takuya for a visit. Both boys were surprised when they found each other standing on opposite sides of the door. They had been expecting to be greeted with a face they hadn't seen in four years but instead they had a reunion after only two days.

Unfortunately they weren't quick about hiding their surprise and had to think up a way they could have met when their parents asked. They had eventually gone with the story that Tommy and a friend were being picked on by some bullies in the park until Takuya showed up and chased the bullies off. This was sort of true but the real incident had involved a Raremon and the digital world, but they didn't need to know that.

"Hey Takuya.", "No I haven't been waiting that long." Tommy smiled while waving to his older cousin.

"Good let's get out of here before we're late meeting everyone else.", "I really don't need to be yelled at by Zoe or Koji this early in the morning." Takuya sighed in a manner that hinted he had already accepted this fate as being unavoidable.

"Bye Mom. Bye Dad." Tommy yelled and waved as he and Takuya began running off to their next destination. His parents wished both boys a good day at school and gave a small laugh as the boys rushed off.

"Have you notice that Tomoki has become a lot more like Takuya since they met again? I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing though." T.K. said turning to his wife.

Takeru Takaishi or T.K. as he liked to be called, the digidestine of hope, was a tall man with medium length blond hair and blue eyes. During his first year in high school T.K. had started taking a creative writing class and by his senior year he was running it. The world of writing had never occurred to him before but once he got into it he just couldn't stop, he had found his place in life. He would eventually go to a top rank college and major in literature and the arts, while graduating at the top of his class.

Right out of college he would summit the story he had been working on during his four years at college to be publish. It was quickly accepted and climbed to the top of the best seller list in Japan, quite an accomplishment for someone so young. It might not have made him a lot of money but it went a long way towards building a better life for him and Kari.

By now T.K. had publish a few more books which were big successes, but right now he's been struggling with writers block and hasn't written anything in quite a while. He's not really worried though. He knows inspiration comes and goes, and the time off has given him plenty of time with his family and friends. For TK life is pretty great.

"I'd like to believe that it's a good thing." Kari giggled in response to her husband's observation.

Hikari Takaishi, Kari for short, the original digidestine of light (once the only and now the first of two). Kari is a very kind woman with warm features that make anyone feel welcome and loved. She comes up to slightly over her husband's shoulder in height. Her hair is a light brown color that falls about her shoulders in silky smooth locks. She has eye's that are a mixture of brown and crimson giving them a warm and healthy glow.

After the battles of her youth had stopped she dedicated herself to achieving her dream of becoming a teacher. She set out to learn all she could about working with children throughout high school and college. Kari ended up attending the same college as TK, TK had applied to the same college as Kari since it didn't really matter what school a writer attended since writing was all about the person and not the education. They dated throughout the four years and got married shortly after graduation. The original plan was for them to start off by living together for a while but T.K. was too afraid to tell Tai this, so instead he choose to gather up his courage and propose. He was overjoyed when she said yes.

One year later Kari landed a job as a Kindergarten teacher and began a very fulfilling career of helping young minds develop. She looks forward to everyday with her little charges and can't wait to see what they will say or do next. She still cries herself to sleep, the night before and the night after, every time her class graduates and moves on to the next grade. Three years after starting her job she and T.K. were blessed with little baby Tommy. Kari now spends her time caring for her family and students in a way only she can.

"I guess you're right. But if Tomoki starts wearing goggles and charging into dangerous situations, we're going to have to talk." TK said through the sarcastic smile that was forming on his face.

"I don't know, he might look pretty cute with a pair of goggles around his neck. All Kamiya's do." She retorted with a gentle giggle, before kissing her husband and returning to the house to get her school bag so she could start off for work.

TK took this time to stare up into the sky and stretch his body. Looking into the beautiful blue sky he is reminded of the digital world whose sky he hasn't seen in over eighteen years. Those memories then led to thoughts of a certain little brown flying fluff ball he left in the digital world. It hurt not being able to see or talk to his partner, but life was too good to spend thinking about what he couldn't change. So TK quickly brushed away the lingering sad memories and headed inside to see what work needed to be done around the house, and maybe brainstorm some new story ideas, but not before muttering a single phrase.

"We will meet again, right Patamon?"

* * *

By now Takuya and Tommy had reached their next destination. This house was extremely hard to miss since it was a three story mansion with a huge yard and two very nice cars parked in the driveway. At the end of the driveway stood a teenager girl with long blond hair who was checking herself out in a pocket mirror. Upon seeing this girl Takuya was filled with a flood of emotions, though right now at the top of the list was fear. This was a side-effect of being late for anything with this girl, although he had begun to notice that he was the only one in the group who she acted this crazy toward. He just couldn't figure out why it was like this.

Before Takuya could muster up a greeting the quiet of the morning was shattered by the angry voice of the girl, "Takuya Kamiya your late!" These four simple words said with that tone made Takuya's body freeze-up and his mind race for some kind of excuse. "I guess it's not like this is the first time you've been late. You'd think I'd be use to it by now." she huffed while giving Takuya a pouty face.

"Hehe… he…" Takuya nervously laughed while Tommy chuckled to himself off to the side. When Takuya turned to look at him Tommy quickly tried to stop himself from laughing to no avail. He eventually had to turn away from Takuya to finish laughing. While rubbing the back of his neck with his hand Takuya began to apologize for his tardiness, "Sorry Zoe. I got up with plenty of time to spare but then there was a Rift, and a long run… and well you know how these things go…", "So yeah, ah sorry." He finished while taking a remorseful bow.

"Well as long as you're sorry… and safe." Zoe said with a slight blush in her cheeks which Takuya might have seen if he hadn't been bowing for forgiveness at the time.

This girl is Izumi Ishida, or Zoe as her friends and family had come to call her. She is the digidestine of the wind and the only girl in the current group. Just like all of the other digidestine Zoe to had grown taller than she was when she was eleven, but she hadn't grown as much as the boys had. She was now the second shortest in the group, only half a head taller than Tommy, she came up to be about two inches over Takuya's shoulder. Her height wasn't the only thing that had changed. Her more feminine features had begun to develop greatly over the four years. Zoe had been blessed with a figure that could drive any teenage boy wild and any other girl jealous.

Zoe had chosen to grow her hair longer, down to about her waist and added a few pink highlights to her bangs; which really brought out her deep green eyes. Like Takuya, Zoe had stopped wearing a hat in exchange for her free flowing hair. She had also started wearing very fashionable cloths, making sure to always have at least one pink article, like her mother did when she was her age. The other area in which she had developed in was in her feelings toward a certain reckless, brown haired, goggle wearing boy. Actually they both had grown closer over time and had gotten to the point where one of them just had to come out and say something for their relationship to bloom into something great. But for now they are just happy to be good friends.

Today she was wearing a pair of pink cargo pants with bejeweled multicolor butterflies running up the legs and a large black belt around her waist. Her shirt was a white spaghetti strap number with frills at the bottom. Around her neck was a pretty expensive diamond butterfly necklace her parents had given to her for her thirteenth birthday. It was beautiful but to her the best gift she had received that year came from Takuya. He had given her the purple flower hairclips she was using to hold her bangs in place. For some reason all the adults had laughed when he gave them to her, she later found out it had something to do with an incident that had occurred in the past.

As an awkward quiet began to develop between the boy and girl Tommy felt he had to break the silence, "I hate to interrupt this LOVEly situation but if we don't hurry the others will head off to school on their own." Tommy said making sure to put emphasis on the 'love' part of lovely.

"Tommy's right we have to get a move on. Kouji's going to need some extra time to yell at me for being late and I would hate to deprive him of that." Takuya announced with a sarcastic tone in his voice.

With that they were off towards Kouji's, but not before Zoe shot Tommy a death glare and asked "Tommy what exactly did you mean by 'lovely' situation." She said the words left her mouth like dripping poison.

Tommy let out a scared and nervous laugh "Nothing really" he mouthed before running ahead to catch up with Takuya with Zoe following close behind.

Little did the three know that their whole exchange had been observed by one of the occupants of the mansion. This woman with the long honey colored hair looking out the front window let out a small giggle as Takuya apologized and Zoe blush. To her there was nothing more refreshing then those kinds of moments. The woman pushed off of the doorframe and made her way to the living room where her husband sat reading over some sheet music scattered about on the coffee table.

"There is nothing like young love." She sighed happily, as she took a seat next to her husband on the couch.

"I guess so?" he said absent-mindedly while putting some makes down on the paper in front of him, they were most likely a set of chords or a lyric's change.

The woman gave her husband a quick look and a smile before continuing to talk, "They'll make a cute couple if they ever figure out how they feel. Hot-blooded and rash make for an interesting set."

The last part of the conversation caught the man's attention. All of a sudden he both did and didn't want to know who his wife was talking about. "Mimi, what couple are you talking about?" he said with all the uneasiness of a father with a beautiful teenage daughter.

"I'm talking about Takuya and Izumi, Matt" she replied with a very whimsical tone.

"Wait my Izumi!" Matt stuttered. "Wait Takuya, as in Takuya Kamiya, as in Tai's son!"

"Yes Matt", "That's who I'm talking about." After that it got pretty quiet in the room as Matt carefully thought about what his wife had just told him.

Now Mimi didn't know what was cuter, the awkward situations that develop between Takuya and Izumi, or Matt's sudden depression over the thought of losing his precious daughter to the son of his childhood rival. Either way Mimi just laughed at the mood that had filled the room.

The woman who was currently taking a measure of pleasure from her husband's pain as a father is Mimi Tachikawa, the original digidestine of sincerity; although for the last fifteen years she's been Mimi Ishida. Mimi was only slightly half a foot taller than her daughter and a full foot shorter than her husband. She had long since allowed the pink dye in her hair to grow out until it was it returned to its original honey color. She had also chosen to cut it to shoulder length.

Mimi finished high school in New York and had chosen to return to Japan to attend college. She would graduate college with a focus in event planning. While attending college Mimi and Matt meet at a nightclub his band happened to be playing at. That night they started up a relationship that would become an on again off again affair that would be sealed with marriage after few years. They really cared about each other and were considering the possibility of getting married but in the end it was decided for them when Mimi ended up two months pregnant with Zoe. Matt took this as a sign and proposed a few days later.

But before that fateful discovery Mimi had had a pretty successful career as a party planner and host. Her name became synonymous with fun and the perfect party. She never had trouble finding work, but the longer it all went on the more she became tired of the party life. Eventually she would give up this career after Zoe was born and focused on raising her daughter and supporting her husband's band. This would eventually lead to a very long stay in Italy where Matt's band had become very popular. While in Italy Mimi fell in love with cooking and enrolled in one of the finest cooking schools. Following her years of training she opened her own street café which eventually became a popular restaurant.

Soon came the time for Matt to retire from singing as the world of music started to change. Around this time Mimi received an offer from a Japanese television network to star in her own cooking show. So that's how the Ishida family found themselves in Japan again five years ago.

"I really don't know what to do with that." Matt sighed in defeat.

The man whose happy morning has just been ruined is Yamato Ishida or Matt as he preferred to be called, the original digidestine of friendship. When it comes to height Matt is second only to Tai among the original digidestine. His hair was much shorter now then when he was in his band all those years ago, mainly because Matt felt he needed to have a more professional look nowadays. The blue of his eyes closely resembled that of the green of his daughters which he attributed to a recessive gene since his nephew Tommy also had green eyes.

Matt had been the only one of the digidestine that had not attended college after graduating from high school. With his band taking off Matt had decided to bet it all on his talent to lead him to fame and fortune. This proved to be a long but enjoyable road. He would eventually enter into a long term relationship with Mimi. It would be a relationship filled with separations and reunions and eventually form into a permanent union and a new family member.

After getting married and the arrival of his daughter Matt's career really took off when his band became very popular in Europe. This lead to the decision to leave Japan for Italy where Matt would tour the continent with his band, returning home as much as possible to raise his little girl with his wife. As with all trends the world of music began to change, so Matt chose to get out while he was still a star and his name meant something.

With Mimi's offer of her own cooking show in Japan waiting, they decided to pack up and leave Italy for the home they left all those years ago. They had returned to Japan after almost ten years and quickly tried to help their daughter adjust to the cultural change and make some friends. It had come as a shock to Matt when one day Zoe brought home her first true friend she had made in Japan and the boy turned out to be Tai's son. Matt and Mimi used the large amount of money they had amassed over his years of performing to buy a very nice mansion and set up a very comfortable life for the three of them.

While Mimi began the step into the spotlight with the best cooking show in the country, Matt began taking classes in management and business. After getting a degree Matt started his own record label, managing small starter and local bands as well as few well known's. It might be a small label now but with Matt at the helm it stands a good chance of becoming something big.

"It's strange but whenever I see those six kids together I can't help but remember the old days." Mimi said as she leaned back into the fluffy embrace of the couch resting her head on the backs ridge. "And when I think about that I can't help but think about them…" as she stared up at the ceiling.

At the mention of 'them' Matt shifted on the couch and then fell back into the same position as his wife. "Yeah… I know what you mean." He whispered as he lightly took hold of his wife's hand in his own.

They both might have been missing the friends they couldn't see right now, but they couldn't have been happier with how life had treated them. Things were just so peaceful. For now anyway.

* * *

The three friends were now very close to their next morning destination, the home of their friends Koji and Koichi Ichijouji. As they approached their stop Takuya prepared himself for the argument that was bound to take place between himself and his best friend. A prospect he both dreaded and strangely looked forward to. In those moments of conflict between him and Koji he truly felt like he was going up against his complete opposite, his equal, and his greatest rival. This had to be the feeling that a prize fighter felt before entering the ring for the title.

They rounded the final corner and the first thing the three saw was the twins standing on the curb a good distance from their house. They had most likely walk away from their house to have some private discussion (probably something about digimon) away from any bystanders or their parents.

Continuing to walk towards the twins the three pass by the front yard of the Ichijouji residence where the mother of the two boy's sat on the lawn playing with her newborn baby girl in the grass.

"Hey Mrs. Ichijouji how's it going?" Takuya waved as he walked past.

"Ahh, the baby's so cute today." Zoe fawned as she took some time to give a little finger wave to the baby.

"Good morning Mrs. Ichijouji. How are you today?" Tommy said with all the manners and grace his parents had instilled in him.

"Hello you three." She says in return to the greetings. Then she gently takes the baby's hand and uses it to give a little wave.

This stay at home mother of three is Yolei Ichijouji, a member of the second generation of digidestine and the inheritor of love and sincerity. Out of all the digidestine girls she had become the tallest and stood only two inches shorter then her husband. Her lavender hair had been cut a little shorter then when she was young, it now only went a quarter of the way down her back. These days she tended to wear an apron most of the time and had traded in her large round glasses for a trendy square pair.

Back when she was Yolei Inoue her focus was on just getting through high school. The one year she had to spend as a high school freshmen away from her friends and been difficult, but it had given her time to get closer to the older digidestine. After three years she graduated from high school and applied to a local college as an undeclared. Four years later she graduated with a general studies degree and would move to an apartment close to Kens college while he finished up his last year.

After Kens graduation they decided to live together for awhile then get married a year later. After another year Yolei gave birth to twin boys who she quit her job to stay home and raise. Yolei became the cornerstone of the family making sure all that needed to be done got done and everyone got what they needed. Before the new baby came she had been working part time with her husband as his assistant. She actually had a pretty keen eye which helped in his line of work.

After saying good morning to Yolei the three made their way over to the twins who had noticed their arrival and responded in their own way. Koichi greeted them with a smile and a single wave of the hand, while Koji just looked Takuya up and down as if to say he knew whose fault it was that they had been standing there so long. Normally he would have just given a friendly nod of acknowledgement but when he got annoyed he became like this, and right now he was annoyed with a certain someone.

"Good morning, Koji, Koichi." Takuya called out to the two of them. Although he did say this with an artificial tone since he was pretty sure Koji was angry. The look on Koichi's face confirmed that Koji had probably been brooding for a while now.

Before Koichi could return the greeting his speech was stopped by his brothers words. "Your late Kamiya. You'd think by now you could have at least learned to call ahead if you're going to be late. That way others could be getting some work done instead of waiting on some corner for you to show up."

Right now Takuya had two choices available to him. He could either apologize to Koji for being late and end it right there; like he had with Zoe. Or he could defend himself and most likely end up in another argument. He chose the latter or at least a combination of the two.

"I'm sorry if my early morning detour to stop a Rift Digimon from tearing its way through the city kept you waiting. It's not like it's our destiny to do that or anything." Takuya respond with a voice dripping in sarcasm.

"I don't see how that changes the fact that you could have called us so that we knew you were going to be running late. The fact that you found the Rift proves you had your phone and know how to work the map and target function." Koji retorted. Then he finished with the line that would secure his victory over Takuya in this matter, "So was using it for its original function as a cell phone too complicated for you?"

At this point Takuya realized that he made lost this match. It was a calculated risk whenever he fought with Koji. But he knew that before the day was over he would have another chance for victory.

"Fine! Whatever let's get going." Takuya huffed before heading off to their next stop.

Koji let out a quiet laugh before he turned and followed Takuya.

The victor of this little squabble is Koji Ichijouji the digidestine of light, or the new digidestine of light as it was. Koji is the level head warrior and someone the rest could always rely on to watch their back even if he did act like a lone wolf at times. This is the reason why he and Takuya worked so well together. Takuya would act in the interest of what's right and just while Koji would provide the back-up he would need. Over the years he had come to see Takuya's view of it's better to act then do nothing as a good perspective and had even come to accept the hothead as the group's leader, even if he would never tell Takuya that.

Koji hadn't changed much since their first adventure in the digital world. He had grown taller, half an inch taller than Takuya, which he had no problem with reminding Takuya of when the subject of who was better came up in their arguments. He kept the length of his hair the same but ditched the bandana years ago, instead he now wore it tied around the top part of the sleeve of his jacket. The look seemed to go over well since it brought him more attention from girls. He personally could have really done without the attention though.

Today Koji was wearing his normal spring outfit. His pants were a pair of black, grey, and white cameos held up with a black belt with studded metal covering it. The shirt was a white long sleeve button-down which remained untucked from his pants in a messy but smooth style. Over the white shirt he was wearing a longer version of the blue and yellow jacket he wore when he first went to the digital world. This new jacket came down to his knees and always remained unzipped to reveal the white shirt.

"It's good to see them getting along so well." Koichi laughed as he watched the two friends finish their argument.

"I wonder where they get the energy this early in the morning?" Zoe sighed in response. "I'm no good until my first cup of coffee, but their ready to go first thing in the morning." "It must be a boy thing."

"I think those two are just like that." "Or it's the adrenaline rush they get from yelling at each other." Tommy added to conversation.

"Now that's an idea." Koichi directed toward Tommy.

This is Koichi Ichijouji the oldest of the two twins and the digidestine of darkness. Just like Koji he hasn't changed much since the old days. He had the same short hair from before and similar features to that of his brother; like structure, facial features, and height. The biggest difference between the two was their personalities. Koji had opened up more but he was still sort of a lone wolf type who could be very stubborn at times and had a tendency to hide his true feelings. While Koichi on the other hand tended to be very friendly, willing to go with the flow, and be very open with his feelings. Their personalities seemed to be complete opposites of their fated elements.

Koichi really enjoyed the time he spent with his friends in the real world since he hadn't been able to spend a lot of time with them during their first adventure. All he can really remember about the days leading up to his being freed from the corrupted form of darkness was running to the station after getting an interesting text message about his destiny. He missed the elevator his brother and another boy had gotten on by mere seconds. After the stairs everything went dark for a while until he woke up in that crater with his brother and the boy standing over him looking concerned.

The time together that followed had allowed them to close the gap that had formed between the two brothers. Even though they lived in the same house they had grown really far apart. Koji had entered a seclusion phase while Koichi had begun feeling depressed. This most likely contributed to Cherubimon being able to corrupt and control him. Since those days the two have become very close again.

Today Koichi was wearing a pair of blue jeans, brown shoes, and a maroon long sleeve undershirt. Over that shirt he wore a black button-up dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Around his neck hung a silver chain with a die cast yin and yang symbol dangling from it outside of his shirt. He wore it to remind him of the importance of the darkness to the balance of the world and that it didn't have to be an evil force.

"We'd better catch up to them before they leave us behind." Koichi noted as he took off after his brother and friend.

"Wait! Did they seriously just leave us behind?" Zoe huffed.

"Looks that way." Tommy laughed.

As the young boy and the blond girl ran to catch up to the three boys that had moved on without them a shadow fell over Yolei and the baby.

"How are my best two girls doing today." Came a voice from above Yolei.

Upon hearing this voice Yolei tilted her head back to look up into the light purple eyes of her husband. "Were doing great." She smiled. "Were just playing in the grass and visiting Mr. Sun aren't we. Yes we are. Yes we are." Yolei babbled in baby talk to the infant, who showed her approval with happy gurgle.

"It seems someone's having a good time." The man with the dark hair laughed while he knelt down and lightly touch the baby's nose, causing a bright smile to spread across her cute little face.

This is man with hair very similar to the twins is Ken Ichijouji, the digidestine of kindness. Ken had grown up very well. The fine features he once possessed were still visible but had become more adult over the years. Although one would still refer to him as a pretty boy he had developed an air of masculinity about him which made him look much more mature then his face let on.

After facing many trials, like his time as the Digimon Emperor and being infected by the dark spore, Ken had to decide what he wanted to do during the peaceful times. He had always been good at a lot of things, even after the dark spore was removed, so he had a hard time choosing what he wanted to do with his future. Ken had originally chosen to attend the same high school as his friends instead of going to a top private school far away. He had chosen a happy life with great memories over praise and prestige. He would eventually graduate from high school with all his friends cheering him on as he gave his valedictorian speech.

After high school he decided to attend the best college in the country even if he had to leave his friends behind for a while. During his senior year of college he moved in with his fiancé Yolei. A year later he graduated at the very top of his class and would marry Yolei a few months later. Following the marriage Ken had a difficult decision to make, what did he want to do for a living? With his education and large amount of skills he could do any job and anything. Giving it a lot of thought he finally found a way to combined all his skills. He would become a private eye, a kind of jack of all trades, who could take on any job no matter how difficult. Soon his name would become well know to those who needed help and the criminal element who feared him. Kens life was going great now. He had two great teenagers and a newborn baby girl. To him life was perfect.

Noticing the car keys in her husband's hands, "I thought you had the day off. So where are you heading?" Yolei question.

"I do, but Izzy said he wanted my help with something." Ken replied with a gleam in his eye.

Catching the look in his eyes, Yolei only had one question to ask. "Do you think it's about that again?"

"It might just be." He answered. "It's not like any of us has ever really given up on it."

"That's true. It would be nice if little Sayomi here could see it once." Yolei inflected as she watched baby Sayomi roll around in the grass.

"I'm sure Sammy would love it." He smiled down at the two using his baby girl's nick-name. This name had come about in honor of his brother, who left this world far too early.

* * *

"So what was it?" Koji asked after a long period of silence that had followed their argument.

"Only a Dark Tyranomon.", "There seems to be a lot of those." Takuya responded without turning around to face his friend.

"You've got a point there. I seem to run into one at least once a month." Koichi noted as he took his place next to his brother.

"Big, violent, and destructive. Seems to be the perfect kind of Rift Digimon if you ask me." Zoe added with a sarcastic tone.

"Yeah that does seem to be the case." Tommy exhaustingly laughed.

"It's the 'big' part that makes them such a problem." Takuya said with a sigh.

Tommy and Zoe seemed slightly confused by this until one of them asked, "What do you mean by that."

Taking this opportunity to explain Koji answered, "He means that we're trying to keep all that's happening hidden from the public eye which makes small digimon ideal. They don't really stand out from far away and they are often hidden by trees, houses, and buildings. But a really big digimon like Dark Tyranomon could be easily seen from far away. You just can't exactly hide a five story dinosaur behind a three story building."

"That's true. So what do we do about it?" Zoe again questioned.

"There's nothing we can do about it." Takuya plainly answered. "Well except take them out as quickly as possible. They do tend to go down pretty easily."

"Yeah, but getting to the target zone quickly is the problem. Our target warning system needs to react faster." Koichi pointed out.

"That would make things easier. But for now I guess we have to work with what we've got." Takuya said with a shrug.

Soon the figure of a brown haired teenage boy sitting on a bench came into view ahead of the five friends.

"Hey there's J.P." Tommy called out.

"About time you guys showed up." J.P. yawned. "Takuya you got to stop making people late."

"Shut-up, how do even know it's my fault." Takuya protested. "For all you know it could be someone else's fault we're running late."

Takuya's bluff might have work if his friends hadn't sold him out by pointing to him behind his back when the subject of tardiness was brought up.

"Hahaha. Now this is the right way to start the day." J.P. let out with a stretch.

This teenage boy is Junpei Kido or J.P. for short, the digidestine of Thunder. Out of all the member of his group J.P. had changed the most over the four years. He was now the tallest member of the team by at least three inches, mainly due to him being a year older than the rest of them. The training they had all done every morning to better prepare themselves had helped J.P. drop a lot of weight and turn some of that fat into muscle. He still retained a little roundness in his face and he was still a long way from a six-pack, but he had greatly improved.

J.P. would normally be wearing a pair of long blue shorts with yellow lining. His short sleeve shirt would be a goldenrod color with 'Magic Touch' written cross the chest in black letters. His shoes would be dark blue with yellow laces. On both his wrists he would wear blue and gold sweatbands. Attached to his belt would be a pouch containing a small first aid kit that had seen a lot of action. But today was a school day so he had to wear his school uniform instead.

"Okay it's not like I don't enjoy discussing my faults and being ganged up on but we got to go." Takuya interrupted after he had heard enough.

"Takuya's right we've got to get to school." Koji added helping his friend escape the prosecuting of the others.

"Shouldn't you kids be halfway to school by now." Came a voice from behind the group of friends.

"Yeah dad we were just about to leave." J.P. answered.

This man is Joe Kido, the original digidestine of reliability. Physically Joe really hadn't changed much after all those years. He had become somewhat taller and his hair was shorter but he was still kind of on the lanky side, especially when compared to his son. Mentally he had changed greatly, he was now much more confident then he once was. He no longer feared the unknown and had become more willing to follow his own path.

Joe's like the rest of his fellow digidestine had finished high school following his days of adventure in the digital world. Upon graduating from high school Joe was accepted into the best medical school in the country. After four years of training and another two years spent in residency he was finally ready to do what he had been planning to do for years, enter the digital world as a digital doctor. Fate would have other plans though, because a little bit before he could enact his plan to enter the digital world to set-up his practice an unknown event took place in the digital world and it became inaccessible to everyone. They spent a lot of time trying to gain access again but in the end had to move on with their lives.

With his original plans crushed Joe decided to begin work at a local hospital to sharpen his skills and make some money. It was here that he met someone he didn't expect to see again let alone develop feelings for, Jun Motomiya. She had started working there as a nurse short time before he had arrived and had helped him adjust to the complexities of the hospital. Eventually they feel in love which had surprised Joe more than anyone, he just couldn't believe how he had fallen for Davis sister of all people. It was true that she had changed for the better after growing up and losing her interest in Matt, she had actually become a very stable and likable person. She made things very interesting for him, but nothing more interesting then the birth of his son a year later. He now runs his own family practice out of the house.

"So where are you going Dr. Kido?" Takuya asked the dark blue haired man after noticing the black doctor's bag in the man's hand.

"I've got to go see an elderly patient who can't leave her house." Joe called back to the boy.

If there was one person Joe had seen just as much as his son it was Takuya when he was younger. That boy was always hurting himself when he was small and his parents would bring him to Joe to patch him up. The price you pay for being that adventurous Joe guessed. He was surprised however when Takuya and his son became good friends. They had always either avoided each other or didn't care to meet when they were children.

"Do you really have time to have an idle conversation Takuya?" Zoe commented as she took hold of his arm and began dragging him down the street to catch up with the others who had left them behind.

Joe smiled as he watched the six friends heading off to school. He couldn't help but feel nostalgic for the old days.

"What are you smiling about so early in the morning?" Came the playful voice of his wife from behind him.

"The kids and the past I guess." He said with a happy but sad sigh.

"I wish I understood how you felt." June answered with a concerned tone in her voice. "I never really got to experience any of it, well except for being involved in the attack at the concert all those years ago." Looking up into her husband's eyes she felt a little bit of what he must have been feeling at this moment, "I'm sure it won't be too much longer."

"You know what, I think your right." He said as a slight smile returned to his face. "I'm sure your right."

* * *

"I guess this is my stop." J.P. said as he stood outside the gates of the local high school. "I'll see you guys after school." With that he entered the school grounds and went in through the main doors.

"So if we do well enough on our exams today this will be our high school in a month." Takuya shrugged while staring up at the four story building of brick and glass.

"Yeah, and luckily the uniforms are really cute." Zoe added with a smile. "Your mom was telling me how she had to wear this ugly green thing when she was in high school."

"I know, I've seen the pictures." He replied.

"Okay enough talking about the future you won't have if we show up late, again." Koji interrupted the two.

"Right!" the two responded.

With this the remaining five friends were off again.

* * *

Crashes and yells continue to echo out of the Dark Area within the digital world. Forests have disappeared and gapping craters have appeared in the blackened earth. Something is changing, something is coming, but for now it goes unnoticed by the rest of the digital world. This is the fault of peace.

* * *

To be continued…


	3. Exams, Tests, and Answers

**Chapter 3**

**Exams, Tests, and Answers**

It's been about three hours now since the day full of exams had begun and the only sign of it letting up was the approaching lunch period. For Takuya that time couldn't come soon enough. It had been two weeks of intense studying in bedrooms and libraries with his friends for hours on end; all for these high school entrance exams. If they all wanted to get into the best public school in the area together they all had to do good today.

Making the grade wasn't going to be a problem for Koji and Koichi; they seemed to be naturally smart. Zoe had to study but it was pretty clear she was going to make it too. However Takuya was up in the air on this one though. It's not like he was stupid; he actually got pretty good grades despite his attitude towards school. Much of his intelligence is attributed to his mothers DNA and influence; he got his athletic prowess from his father. The problem was that he was competing against all the students in the area for one of a limited number of spots, so he had to do really well.

"When is this going to be over? I can't take much more of this." Takuya tiredly exhaled to the white squares of the classroom ceiling.

"It's almost over for now." Zoe reassured him. "All we have is math and writing after lunch."

"So how do you think you did so far?" Came Koichi's voice from behind them.

"I know I aced the reading and English parts, and the science section was a little shaky; but I'm confident I did well." Zoe replied after turning around in her chair to face Koichi.

"I hate to ask, but what about you Takuya?" Koichi asked with a hint of fear in his voice.

"I think I did okay on the first two parts and I knew a lot on the science part. So I think I'm okay." Takuya said with a tone lacking in confidence. This was a strange and unfamiliar voice coming from their leader who always spoke like he was in absolute control; but not unexpected under the current circumstances.

"Well we've got math and writing coming up after lunch. And those are your best two subjects, so it should be easier from here on out." Koji spoke from beside his brother.

"Damn…" Takuya sighed as he let his head hit the surface of the wooden desk.

"What now? What's wrong?" Zoe asked while the twins looked on in confusion.

"Koji's trying to make me feel better... I must be in more trouble than I thought." He said with a depressed laugh. "I mean how often is he nice to me?"

"You know what! Just fail, so I won't have to deal with you for another three years!" Koji responded in anger.

"That's better. Now it's a challenge." Takuya said as he turned his head without lifting it off the desk so he could look Koji in the face before he let out a big crooked smiled.

*BBBRRRIIINNNGGGG*

That bell meant that the first half of the day was over and the group would get a small break before they had to start the next sections of the day's exams.

* * *

*Ding Dong*

"I'll get it." Tai's voice rang out as he made his way to the front door.

When Tai opened the door he found a familiar face on the other side. It was a man with short reddish brown hair and wearing a green T-shirt, orange sports jacket, and blue jeans. In his right arm he held a yellow and white laptop; which knowing him was definitely the latest model available.

"Izzy what are you doing here?" Tai asked the visitor with a smile.

"I was in the area so I thought I'd stop by to talk about a few things." Izzy explained.

"Well it's good to see you. Come in make yourself at home than." Tai welcomed his friend as he motioned for Izzy to come in.

"Thanks." He said as he entered the household and began following Tai to the living room.

When the two men entered the cozy little room they were greeted by the smiling face of Sora; who had stopped reading her latest fashion magazine to greet Izzy. "Hello Izzy. What brings you out here in the middle of the day?"

"It's good to see you Sora. You look well." The redheaded man said as he took a seat in the black recliner across from Sora. "I was actually just in the area and thought there was some important information I should discuss with you and Tai; as well as the rest of the group."

"Important information?" The couple asked in unison.

"Yes, but I'd like to call everyone here before I start so I won't have to explain myself more than once. I'd also like everyone's feedback on this issue." Izzy stated as he started up his laptop.

"That's fine. We haven't all gotten together in a long time and with the kids at school it will just be us adults." Tai responded as he watched the load screen on Izzy's computer complete one check after another.

"Do you want us to start calling the others Izzy?" Sora asked while picking the phone up.

"Thanks that would be a big help. Tell them to be here around noon." Izzy added.

After quite a few phone calls and repeatedly answering the door every couple of minutes all twelve of the original digidestine were assembled in the Kamiya's living room. It was a bit of a tight squeeze; but they were all still comfortable while gathering around Izzy and his computer.

"So Izzy, Sora said on the phone that you had something you wanted to tell us." Davis questioned after growing impatient waiting for Izzy to begin.

"Relax Davis he'll start when he's really." Yolei stated after Davis outburst.

"I know, but I have to get back to the office. I have a lot of noodle carts and cooks to organize." Davis shot back at her.

"I'm almost ready so just relax." Izzy told the two putting an end to their argument before it had the chance to progress further.

"Ahh, just like the old days." Cody laughed. "I guess something's will never change."

"Okay I have to know! Why are you staring at me like that Matt?" Tai said as he broke under his friend's icy glare.

"Hmmm… it's nothing really… just that son of yours." Matt mumbled as he watched his wife trying to hold back a laugh at his expense.

"Wait… Takuya. What did he do now?" Tai asked with a sense of dread in his voice.

"Nothing yet." Mimi managed to say while choking down a laugh.

This little exchange caused the memories of the past to come rushing back to all those who had gathered there. All of the silly arguments that had transpired and the inside jokes that had been born. All thanks to a common link of destiny.

"All done." Izzy commented as he stopped working on his computer to look up at the others. "This is what I've been wanting to show all of you for a while now." With that he turned the computer around so that the screen was facing everyone.

On the screen was a map of Japan with multiple red dots scattered about the country. The first thing everyone noticed was that the largest concentration of dots was around their area.

"So Izzy what are we looking at here?" Tai asked hoping that the redheaded programmer would clear up the confusion.

"What do the little red dots mean? And why are there so many around our area?" Davis added unable to take the suspense that had been building in the room.

"Each one of these red dots represents…" In mid-sentence Izzy stopped to look around the room, preparing himself for what was coming next. "…a digital reading that appeared in our world."

With that final part of the sentence Izzy's fears were confirmed. The room suddenly broke out in cheers, loud talking, and unending questions.

"Izzy you're a genius!"

"We can finally see them again!"

"Next stop the digital world!"

"When can we leave?"

"I wonder how much it's changed!"

Izzy sat there, the center of attention, wishing he could interrupt them; so he could say what needed to be said. Fortunately someone took notice of this and decided to do something about it.

"BE QUIET!" Tai's voice rang throughout the house.

With those two simple words the room went quiet and they all turned and looked at the man. Tai then turned to Izzy and asked the question that Izzy had been wanting to answer.

"Izzy what does this mean exactly?"

Taking a moment to breath in and out before answering Izzy put it as plain as he could, "It means that there is digital activity here in the real world… but I'm unsure of what kind or the reason for it."

When Izzy had finished talking the great mood that had arisen in the room sank. They had been given hope only to have most of it taken away from them. Although they hadn't lost all hope, since they knew this new information meant a part of the digital world was still connect to their world.

"Meaning what, Izzy?" Matt asked placing his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands so that he could look the computer whiz in the eyes.

Feeling kind of guilty for getting everyone's hopes up he answered, "I can't tell what the disturbances are since I've only detected them from far away and by the time I got close enough to inspect it, it has already disappeared."

Turning the computer back towards him he began typing before he continued on. "And when I do get there either everything's normal or there has been a bit of destruction."

"Destruction… That doesn't sound good." Mimi commented in an uneasy tone.

"But it does kind of fit in with the Digital World Mimi. There's usually some kind of damage when dealing with digimon; especially when they appear in the real world." Tai noted.

Izzy then turned the laptop around toward them again so they could see the screen which was now covered in different pictures. Some pictures were of forests, power plants, empty fields, buildings and parking lots. The locations continued to scroll by and every so often there would be one of an area that looked like it had been the scene of a recent battle. They continued to watch until Izzy got to the end of the pictures which happened to be the one he had taken today.

"I know that place." Sora exclaimed pointing at the picture of a parking lot with a large building in the background. "That's the rundown car manufacturer. It's not too far from here."

"Yes, I just finished trying to track it down an hour ago… but I was too late again." Izzy sighed. "That's why I said that I was in the area. When I didn't find anything I thought I would drop by."

"Is this why you've been having me investigate different parts of the city?" Ken asked, finally putting the pieces together.

"Yes, I had you checking locations where I've received multiple digital responses over the last few months." Izzy stated.

"What do you mean multiple responses, Izzy?" Cody interrupted before Izzy had a chance to continue talking to Ken.

"Well there are certain spots where the digital signal has appeared more than once." Izzy answered. "That car manufacture for one. As well as some power plants and other secluded areas."

"Why the repeat performances in those places and not others?" TK asked.

"That's another thing I can't figure out. I thought Ken might at least see something while he was there." Izzy commented. "If I could just see what's giving off this signal it might give me something to work with."

Taking this opportunity Sora asked the question that had been on everyone's mind since they had first the news, "Could all of this lead to us being able to access the Digital World again?"

Before answering this question Izzy took a few seconds to think about what he should say. He had considered the idea that it could be a way back or that it could just be another in a long line of wild goose chases he'd been on for the last eighteen years. He thought about the day he had stopped looking after so many years of searching without any sign. Then suddenly a glimmer of hope appeared four years ago when a digital disturbance destroyed a train station and the road above. It had all gone quiet again after that, until another event happened a year later and then six months later. It wasn't until a program Izzy had been working on for work had accidently started picking up the digital signals that Izzy started to devote himself to the search once again.

Knowing he couldn't hold off any longer and that he couldn't give them anymore false hope Izzy came out and said, "I can only hope that it will. Other then that I don't have anything." After saying this he fell quiet and awaited the group's response.

The Digidestine looked from one to another trying to process what they had just heard. And at the same time checking how each of them was feeling about going further. After a few moments a silent arrangement had been reached among them.

"For the last eighteen years all we've had is hope and its lead to nothing but a lot of heartache." Tai announced to the quiet room.

Izzy had known this was coming they needed to move on and let go. He actually felt a sense of relief; but even more then that he felt a great sadness as that old spirit rose and fell.

"But nothings hurt more then not seeing them and sharing that world with our children." Tai spoke as the rest of the adults in the room silently nodded in agreement.

"So Izzy what do you need us to do?" Sora asked as she watched Izzy's face light up after Tai's little speech.

"Okay here's the plan…"Izzy begins to discuss his plan before it trails off and is lost in the quiet of the different rooms scattered about the house.

* * *

"Finally it's all over! No more tests! No more studying! No more school!" Takuya cheered a feeling of freedom coursing through him.

"It does feel good to be done with school for a while." Zoe smiled at Takuya's little celebration.

"Well until high school starts next month." Koji added walking past the now quiet Takuya.

"Thanks for that Koji… You couldn't just let me have a few minutes of pure joy, could you?" Takuya sighed when he realized that his high school life would start sooner then he would have preferred.

"If I let it go to your head you'll just get stupider over the break." Koji retorted shrugging his shoulders.

"I guess I could see that… Hey wait… What did you mean by stupider?" Takuya shot back.

"You know exactly what I meant… or maybe you don't." Koji said with a small triumphant laugh.

"You know it's really hard to tell if you're playing or being serious." Takuya rejoined looking Koji in the eyes.

"What do you mean?" Koji asked with a concerned look on his face; worried that he had gone too far.

"Well it's hard to express different emotions when you've only got one facial expression… annoyed." Takuya said trying to keep a straight face.

"… Strange that it's only like that when you're around." Koji sighed, a small smile forming on his face.

Behind the two boys, who were now locked in a staring match, the others waited for them to get it all out of their systems before heading home.

* * *

"Sorry I'm late I had to walk Zoe home and then there was this great movie on so we watched it on her big screen T.V." Takuya yelled as soon as he walked in the front door.

"That's nice; but you don't have to yell Takuya. We're just in the living room." Sora responded softly.

"Sorry, hey mom… Everyone!?" Takuya cut himself off when he noticed that the living room was full of all his parents' friends and family.

"Welcome home son!" Tai greeted his eldest child.

Takuya didn't know what it was about the way everyone was acting but he could tell that they were hiding something; or that was just how parents acted when they got together. He couldn't be sure.

"So what's happening?" Takuya inquired as he carefully set his backpack down on the floor behind the couch.

Tai and the rest were unsure of what to say. His sudden question had kind of thrown them off. Luckily there was still one person among them who knew how to handle the boy. In truth she could never loss to him. That was Sora.

"What do you think we we're talking about mister?" Sora turned the question back on her son.

"…Am I in trouble?" He replied with an unsure look on his face.

"Maybe? Why do you ask?" She shot back.

"You just called me mister. That's parent for your in trouble you little…" He responded before he was cut off.

"Do use that word in my house." She rejoined.

"Right… Wait… What… What did you think I was going to say…? How could you even know?"

"I know mister… but back to before. What makes you think you're in trouble?"

"Well me and Koichi did go and… you don't know about that…" Takuya quickly quieted himself before he said too much.

"Well I do now." She smiled back. While in the back of the room Yolei and Ken tried to figure out what kind of trouble Takuya and their son had gotten into. Whenever Takuya did something with Koichi and not Koji it usually meant it was something that Koji was smart enough to avoid. Takuya and Koji were best friends but Koichi was more willing to go along with Takuya's crazy ideas; often getting them into trouble.

"You know what… I'm just gonna… I… What just happened!?" Takuya gave up in confusion before he dug himself any deeper. Sora on the other hand let out a triumphant smile; another victory for mothers everywhere.

"It's not that we're not enjoying seeing Sora mental beating Takuya, but we have to get home to our families." Matt announced interrupting the two before he helped Mimi up from the couch.

"Same here." The others answered as well.

They all quickly packed up their stuff, said their goodbyes, and left. At the door they all exchanged serious and hopeful looks of determination before they all parted. Takuya figured something was definitely going on with them but they were adults and entitled to their privacy, so he let it drop for now.

"Okay dinner will be ready in half an hour you two. Takuya make sure to tell your brother." Sora announced from the kitchen. When she got no response she went to check on two of the three most important men in her life.

From the kitchen archway she could see that the porch door had been left open and out in the yard Tai, Takuya, and Shinya were playing soccer together in the backyard, laughing as they did. Sora couldn't help but smile. All the adventures she and the others had had seemed so distant and unimportant compared to the life she had now. Without the Digital World she did feel like a part of her was missing; but so much of her was here with her family now.

"Poor Tai, he seems to be losing." Sora laughed seeing her two boys scoring another unanswered goal on their father.

Sora then returned to the kitchen slid the pan of food into the oven and set the timer before she went out to join her family.

* * *

After dinner and a shower Takuya was laying on his bed texting Zoe about this and that, when his cell phone began to ring. He put the last text he was writing on hold and then hit the send button to pick up. When he did a long line of numbers and letters appeared on the caller ID and a crackling whisper was all that could be heard; and just as suddenly as the call had come it had ended with a dial tone.

"What was that all about?" Takuya wondered staring at the now darkened display of his cell phone.

He hit the send button and the phone tried to connect. It continual tried to make a connection for over two minutes without success; it never even rang once. Pushing the incident aside as a technological glitch Takuya returned to texting Zoe before he went to sleep; ready to enjoy a month of free time.

* * *

To be continued…


	4. How I Spent the Summer

**Chapter 4**

**How I Spent the Summer**

For Takuya the last few weeks had been filled with fun with his family and friends. They had gone on a few small vacations and were now staying at a beach house with Zoe and her parents. The beach house belonged to Matt and Mimi who had been spending a few weeks every summer there ever since they had returned from overseas. This year Zoe had invited Takuya and his family to celebrate Takuya passing his entrance exams and getting into the top high school with the rest of the gang.

"Now this is the way to spend the summer. Don't you think so Sora?" Mimi commented from her deck chair before taking another sip of her drink.

"That it is, Mimi. That it is." Sora replied stretching out on her chair taking in the warm sunlight.

The two old friends had spent the last couple of hours getting tanned, drinking, and talking about what they had been doing recently. Just below them was the bright sandy beach where soft clear waves of water would crash against the beach sending out rhythmic white noise. The sun in the cloudless sky bathed everything in a bright light while a light breeze made the temperature perfect.

"You two seem to be enjoying yourselves." Tai commented. He and Matt and just returned from the beach and were drying themselves off on the deck when the two couples talk turned towards the events of the last few weeks.

"It hard to believe that it's already been three weeks since Izzy told us about those digital signals he found." Matt sighed looking out over the blue waters.

"Yeah, and the last three weeks haven't yielded any results. We just keep getting there after the signals have disappeared." Tai added feeling a bit depressed over the whole incident. In truth the last three weeks had been rather disheartening for the entire group.

"It has been kind of disappointing but compared to seventeen years without anything it's not that bad." Sora hoped that what she said would cheer the group up.

"Sora has a point, besides Izzy said that every signal gets him more information about what's happening." Mimi announced.

"There is that, but actually seeing what's causing them would at least confirm a few things." Matt replied still looking out over the water.

"It would be nice if we at least knew that the digital world was safe or not." Tai commented as he leaned back against the banister and stared up into the clear blue sky.

"That would be…" Mimi started before she was interrupted by a voice from inside the house.

"TAKUYA, COME ON." Zoe's voiced carried through the house.

When the adult realized that they were no longer alone they put their talk on hold until the children left for the beach.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya!" Zoe happily greeted the two parents with a small bow as she exited the house and stepped onto the deck.

The young girl was wearing a hot pink two piece bikini that perfectly contoured to every curve in her body. It only served to draw attention to her hourglass figure and healthy tone body.

"Hello Zoe. That bathing suit looks great on you." Sora responded looking the teenage girl up and down.

"Thank you Mrs. Kamiya!" Zoe blushed attempting to straighten out one of the shoulder straps.

"What no hello for your parents?" Matt moaned feeling a little dejected by his little girl.

"Sorry daddy." Zoe laughed giving the man a big hug.

"Are you heading to the beach sweetheart?" Mimi asked her daughter.

"Yes, as soon as Takuya gets dressed." Zoe answered with a bored sigh.

"Hey! I didn't take that long to get dressed." Takuya retorted as he emerged from the house to join those on the deck.

Takuya was wearing a pair of black board shorts with red and orange flames rising up the legs. This left his upper body bare exposing his sculpted body thanks to years of training.

"Good, now let's get going." Zoe order as she wrapped he arms around Takuya's right arm and pulled it right against her chest.

"…Right…" Takuya muttered while Zoe dragged him down the stairs. Takuya had wanted to say goodbye to the adults, but when his arm ended up between two very soft places his mind just went blank.

"Is that daughter of yours trying to make my sons head explode?" Sora laughed watching Zoe lead the young boy by the arm.

"I think she is." Mimi giggled at the situation.

* * *

Back home the twins had just finished their afternoon workout and were taking a little break before heading home.

"Seems kind of quiet without Takuya and Zoe." Koichi sighed removing his kendo gear and laying it down on the stairs next to him.

"You seem bothered by that fact?" Koji eyed his brother trying to figure out what he could possibly be thinking.

"Don't act like you don't miss them. Without them the only excitement we get around here are the Rifted." Koichi commented knowing more than his brother cared to admit.

"So you think I miss them because my life isn't chaotic enough with fighting a raging war with an enemy that could appear anywhere at any time. So I need friends who throw even the best laid plans into chaos as well?" Koji sarcastically explained his point of view hoping that his brother would get the idea.

"Yeah, like you don't miss your best friend." Koichi said calling his brothers bluff.

"Why would I miss Takuya? Zoe's at least a hot blond so there could be a reason to miss her." Koji rejoined.

"Strange that when I mentioned your best friend you jumped right to Takuya." Koichi sly retorted.

"…!?" Koji just couldn't find the words.

"See, your subconscious knows he's your best friend." Koichi quickly followed up his last statement.

"Damn… When did that happen…?" Koji thought out loud.

"Trust me it happened quite a long time ago." Koichi laughed, his victory complete.

"Sometimes I really don't like talking with you." Koji said hanging his head in defeat.

After that the two packed up their gear and began walking home. They walked past parks filled with children playing together under the bright afternoon sun. It was these kinds of moments that reminded all of the warriors why they fought, why they put their lives on hold and put their health at risk when they received nothing in return.

"It's nice to see that kind of stuff every so often." Koichi smiled looking toward the park.

"It is… but those days are behind us now." Koji added reminding his brother of their obligations.

"True, but strangely enough I prefer the way things are now then when we didn't know anything." Koichi returned with a content sigh.

"Same here." Koji whispered as the two continued on home where lunch was most likely awaiting them.

That lunch would have to wait because no sooner had they reach the street they lived on when their phones began to admit a loud pinging sound; signaling that a rift had appeared which would soon be followed by a angry digimon.

"It looks like we're the closest ones this time." Koichi noted noticing that their two dots were much closer then Tommy's and the other threes weren't even on the map.

"Yeah. So what were you saying about needing Takuya here to make our lives interesting." Koji glared at his brother before running off in the direction of the signal.

"Hahaha. But my argument is still just as valid." Koichi yelled to his brother as he chased after him.

* * *

"I really should have tried to convince mom and dad to ask if we could go with Takuya and Zoe." Tommy sighed. He had been lying on the couch for the last few hours ignoring the television across the room from him. He was just too bored to do anything but stare at the ceiling. Tommy hadn't been able to respond to any Rift openings thanks to him never being the closest to the location and now the three people he played with most were gone.

"Aww, is my little boy bored." The sound of Kari voice turned Tommy's attention to the other end of the couch. At the far end of the couch Kari sat on the armrest looking down on Tommy with a look of interest.

"How could you tell?" Tommy asked his voice full of sarcasm.

Kari just gave a little laugh and replied. "Your father gets the same look on his face when he sits at the computer and can't think of anything to write."

"He does?"

"Yes, when he can't write he gets really bored. It makes me feel bad for him." Kari added with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Dad has really been having a hard time lately hasn't he?" Tommy exhaled thinking about all the times he had seen his father just staring at the blank computer screen waiting for inspiration to strike.

"I can understand why your fathers down, but what's wrong with you?"

"Takuya, Shinya, and Zoe are at the beach for the rest of the week, while I'm here with nothing to do." Tommy answered before he rolled over onto his side and turned off the television.

"If they're not home why not go see JP? You're good friends with him too aren't you?" Kari suggested.

"He went with his father and mother to a medical convention in Tokyo." Tommy replied flatly.

"Why don't you go play with Izzy's kids? I'm sure Chiaki and Teppei would be happy to see you." Kari made another suggestion knowing that Izzy had been really busy lately with the digital signals problem; and probably didn't have the time to play with his kids recently.

Hearing those two names brought back memories of the digital world for Tommy. He remembered meeting Chiaki and Teppei and two others when they were living at one of the terminals and being watched over by Angemon. It was impossible to forget how much trouble he and the other warriors had trying to get them to go home and eventually rescuing them from the Royal Knights. But the biggest surprise was when they met again in the real world at the get together his parents had taken him to. Tommy could still remember how worried he was that they would let their secret slip but some reason they didn't remember anything about those days. For them it was as if they had never traveled to the Digital World and met him and the others. It was strange but the Digital World was a strange place after all.

"I guess I could do that." Tommy smiled getting up from the couch and putting on his shoes before he ran out the door towards Izzy's.

"He seemed to be in a hurry." TK said to his wife after having to dodge his son on the front steps as he ran by.

"You know kids they have two modes; bored and all out play." Kari laughed as TK took a seat next to her.

"Yeah I remember…" TK sighed exhausted from his morning.

"So did you have any luck?" Kari inquired of TK.

"No. By the time I got there the signal was gone and there was nothing out of the ordinary." TK explained to his wife about his latest attempt to catch one of the digital signals.

"I'm sorry TK. But it'll all workout eventually." Kari reassured her husband as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Thanks Kari, I needed to hear that." He smiled sinking deeper into the couch to rest after all the running he had just done.

* * *

"Now that was a good movie." Jun cheered walking out of one of the Tokyo movie theaters.

"It was pretty good mom." JP responded to his mothers actions hoping that nobody notice his mothers little happy dance.

"Aww, don't be so shy. It's not every day that we get to visit Tokyo like this." Jun attempted to raise her son's spirits since he had seemed pretty down the last couple of days.

"I guess you have a point…" JP sighed his thoughts elsewhere.

"How can you not be energized by that ending? The hero defeats the evil warlord in a climactic battle for the fate of the world then he and the beautiful princess ride off together to live happily ever after." Jun smiled. She just loved happy endings especially when it came to true love.

"…" JP sighed again as Jun looked at him confused. It seemed that her recapping of the ending had had the opposite reaction than what she had intended; it seemed to have made her son more depressed then before.

"Okay that's it! What's wrong with you?" Jun asked placing her hands on her hips and bending slightly so she could look directly into her son's eyes.

"It's nothing really mom…" JP sighed for a third time.

"So it has something to do with girls… again." Jun concluded. If there was one thing she could pick-up on it was when someone was having issues with the opposite sex. That and this wasn't the first time he had gotten like this because of a girl.

"It's nothing…" JP started again before he was interrupted.

"Really mom." Jun finisher for her son knowing that it wasn't nothing. "Why don't you just tell me? You'll feel better if you do."

JP took a few minutes to think as they continued to walk along the streets of Tokyo. Eventually JP gave in and spilt about what was bothering him. "You see Zoe invited Takuya to the beach with her, but she didn't invite anyone else."

"That girl again." Jun sighed to herself while memories of her days of chasing Matt ran through her head. It wasn't that she didn't like the girl; actually she was quite fond of her. It was just that she wished her son would move on.

"It just seems that lately she and Takuya are always together." JP added to his case.

"Well it doesn't necessarily mean anything." Jun tried to reassure her son knowing full well that it actually did mean a great deal. She just hoped that he could get over her before anything serious happened between Takuya and her. Jun was mostly afraid that it could put a strain on the new friendships her son had finally formed. He hadn't always had true friends; but now he had five of them and she didn't want to see anything ruin that.

"I guess you could be right… Maybe I'm working myself up over nothing." JP said finally beginning to cheer up a little.

"Yeah… Let's go find your father and get some dinner." Jun responded hoping to drop the whole subject.

* * *

"The sunsets amazing don't you think so?" Zoe asked as she and Takuya sat in the sand leaning up against the surfboards they had been using a short while ago.

"It does look a whole lot better over the ocean, doesn't it?" Takuya agreed not taking his eyes off of the vanishing sun.

"Just one problem; it starts to get cold once the sun goes down." Zoe said with a sly smile.

"Ahh, yeah. You can borrow my towel if you want." Takuya offered feeling strangely flustered.

Without saying a word Zoe slid next to Takuya and leaned up against him and then placed her head on his shoulder. After she had positioned herself she took Takuya's towel and wrapped them both up in it.

"Z… Zoe!" Takuya stuttered trying to processes Zoe's aggressive move.

"Takuya… I…" Zoe stared up at Takuya determined to say what had wanted to for the last six days. This was one of the main reasons why she had invited him to the beach in the first place; the celebration of his achievement being a convenient second.

"Yeah…" Takuya stared back.

"TAKUYA" "ZOE" Came a mixture of voices completely putting a stop to the current moment.

When they recognized the voice that were calling them as belonging to their parents the two quickly separated and tried to push down the blood that had rushed to their faces.

"Hey you two." Tai greeted the two teenagers before he dropped a bag of wood onto the sand.

"We thought that since tonight is our last night we'd make a fire on the beach and roast some marshmallows." Mimi explained taking a seat next to her daughter and pulling out a few big bags of the white and fluffy foodstuff.

"Sounds like fun Mrs. Ishida!" Takuya answered before he got up to help his father, Matt, and Shinya make the fire.

"It looks like we might have interrupted something Sora." Mimi mocked.

"Your right Mimi." Sora joked back.

"We really should have checked first don't you think." Mimi responded in the same voice as before.

"We should have." Sora playfully laughed back.

Zoe just sat there the blush on her face growing redder and redder the longer the two women teased her.

"Are you two done yet or is there more?" Zoe sighed, a sarcastic tone dripping over the words.

"Sorry sweetheart." Mimi apologized rubbing her little girls back.

The rest of the night was spent talking about the summer and what to expect in high school, laughing at jokes and eating roasted sugary sweets. They spent the night on beach knowing that in a few days the kids would be off to school again and it would be back to work for the adults.

* * *

*RING*

Takuya awoke the next day slumped against his surfboard in the sand. Embers were still burning in the fire pit emitting a slight warmth into the early morning mist that drifted in from the ocean.

*RING*

There was that sound again; the one that had awoken him. Somehow it sounded very familiar. Takuya continued to look around for its source. On his right he felt a slight pressure and found Zoe using his shoulder as a pillow. He could feel her silky hair and soft breathes caressing his skin. Carefully he lifted her head off his shoulder and placed it gently down on his towel which he had folded into a pillow for her.

*RING*

Again it sounded from somewhere in the early morning mist. Having put Zoe down on the makeshift pillow Takuya stood up so that he could look for the source of the sound. On the other side of the smoldering fire his parents had fallen sleep in each other's arms; it was the same situation for Zoe's parents as well.

*RING*

That sound was starting to bug Takuya; mainly since his mind was clouded over from the lack of sleep and the fact that he couldn't seem to place the sound. All he knew was that it was coming from something closer to the shore ahead of him; hidden in the mist. Carefully stepping over the sleeping form of Shinya he made his way down to the ocean.

*RING*

The sound was getting closer now and Takuya was finally starting to wake up. Taking a few more steps forward Takuya was able to make out something familiar laying on the ground with a flashing light on it.

*RING*

"It's my bag! I completely forgot I left it here when Zoe and I went surfing." Takuya said to himself as he reached down and pulled his ringing cell phone out of the front pocket. It was the same mysterious ringtone from that night a month ago; when he gotten that strange call.

*RING*

Takuya flipped it open and read the caller ID. It was the same mixture of numbers and symbols that had shown up before. Hitting the send button he answered the call.

"Hello…" Takuya spoke into the mouth piece. There was no response from the other end but Takuya felt that he had to stay on the line.

Suddenly a voice drifted in over that static "…the time… will…soon…" before the line went dead.

Removing the phone from his ear Takuya just stared down at it until the screen and buttons went dark, before he flipped it shut. For the moment all he could do was look out over the ocean and think; while he watched the mist begin to dissipate under the warmth of the morning sun.

"Takuya… are you alright?" Zoe asked walking up behind Takuya with her towel wrapped around her. Zoe could tell something was on Takuya's mind even if she couldn't see his face.

"Something is going to happen… I can feel it." Takuya absentmindedly responded without turning around to look at the girl.

As the two stood there before the ocean contemplating what was to come the sun rose over the horizon and cut through the morning mist. It signaled the march toward a hidden past and future that would soon be brought into the light. Hopefully before it was too late.

* * *

To be continued…


	5. Looking for Answers

**Chapter 5**

**Looking for Answers**

It had been a day since Takuya had gotten the strange call at the beach and now all of the warriors had gathered in his room to discuss it.

"So what did the voice say?" Koji inquired wondering what Takuya could have heard that would make him call an emergency meeting.

"There was a lot of static and the voice was very faded but I heard 'the time will soon' very clearly." Takuya answered. The others just stared at him with a look of confusion on their faces; making Takuya feel somewhat awkward.

"Man Takky is that it?" JP asked with a slightly sarcastic tone.

"It wasn't about what the voice said it was the way it said it." Takuya defended himself. "Also this wasn't the first time this number tried to contact me."

"What…?" Koji asked intrigued by Takuya's last statement.

"I got a call from the same number four weeks ago. But this one seemed closer somehow." Takuya replied.

"What do you mean… closer?" Zoe asked moving a little closer to Takuya.

"I don't really know how to explain it. I just felt like whoever was trying to contact me wasn't as far away as they were before." Takuya sighed rubbing the back of his neck, feeling somewhat unsure of himself right now. Maybe he was making too much out of this but it still didn't feel that way.

"Don't you think that's a little shaky...?" JP started to say before he was cut off by Koji.

"So for now we should be careful and keep our guard up." Koji stated.

"Huh!?" The rest of the group replied in surprise.

"When Takuya's thinking straight his instincts have never steered us wrong." Koji said with a hidden happy tone in his voice. "So we'll just have to trust him now."

"Yeah, Takuya is our leader so we have to have faith in him." Zoe chirped giving Takuya's arm a hug.

"Okay… What do we do about it?" JP inquired of the group; but in reality the question was more directed at Takuya than the group.

"For starters Koji and I will go and talk it over with Lady Ophanimon and get her input. Then we'll figure out what to do from there." Takuya announced. Across from him Koji and Koichi looked up at Takuya with something to say.

"Unfortunately I can't go. Koichi and I have an important meeting at the high school in an hour." Koji said turning down Takuya's invite.

"Seriously… We haven't even had our first day yet." Takuya balked in surprise.

"Since Koji and I are entering the student council when school begins we've got a lot to learn before then." Koichi replied as he and Koji grabbed their stuff in preparation to leave.

"Don't worry Takuya I'll go with you." Zoe offered with a smile.

"Thanks Zoe. I need at least one person who'll pay attention during the whole talk." Takuya smiled back accepting her offer.

"What is that suppose to mean? You're going too?" Zoe stared at him unsure if he knew what he had said.

"You know how I tend to trail off when other people talk." Takuya said with a big smile.

"Takuya what am I going to do with you?" Zoe asked with a sigh bring her hand up to her face to hide the smile that spreading across it. She would never tell Takuya this but that odd attitude of his was one of the things that she loved about him.

"I guess we should be going then." Tommy announced as the group started packing up their stuff.

"Yeah Zoe and I can use my computer to get to the Digital World. Hopefully we'll get some answers that we'll like…" Takuya stated while guiding his friends down the stairs and letting them out the front door; before he joined Zoe back in his room.

"Ready to go." Takuya cheered pulling the DAT-X from his belt and aiming it at the screen.

"Yeah!" Zoe smiled in response.

Takuya returned her smile before he gripped the DAT-X tightly in his hand and spoke the word "Open". The core of the Dat-X began to slowly glow and after a few seconds the four white locks that surrounded the sphere sprung open revealing the golden circuitry underneath it. The light that had built up in the center quickly spread through the lines of gold circuitry until it all glowed with a powerful light.

While the DAT-X was powering up the computer screen burst to life and a portal access appeared in the display. It appeared to be the same gate the Digidestine had used many years ago; except this one had what appeared to be strange locks and colorful pop-ups placed over it. The locks took the form of steel shutters that covered all of the displays; while the pop-ups warned anyone who managed to come across the gate that it was best to leave it alone. But the brighter the light got from the DAT-X the more the locks began to move; receding into the sides of the screen. Until with one final burst of light the locks snapped open completely and bright white light poured out of the computer and swallowed them up; pulling them out of the real world and leaving an empty room behind. After they were gone the portal access went into standby mode and the computer screen went black once more.

* * *

Moments later Takuya and Zoe touched down in the Digital World; managing to land on their feet, unlike those before them. Even if it did take them a quite a few trips to get it right.

They had come down at the Trailmon terminal outside of Lady Ophanimons castle. Behind them the beautiful blue and white castle stood against the bright blue sky. Outstretching from the base of the castle to the sides of the cliff was a carpet of pure white flowers which filled the wind with shining petals and a sweet smell every time it swept across the field. In front of them just past the platform was the edge of the cliff of the floating island.

"At least the Digital World looks like its okay." Takuya noted looking over the cliffs edge at the sprawling peaceful landscape of the Digital World below.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Zoe questioned.

"I just keep getting this feeling that something's not right." Takuya sighed kind of getting annoyed with his instincts.

"That's why we're here isn't it? To find out if something is coming." Zoe said taking a step forward and smiling up at Takuya. She had noticed that he was feeling a little frustrated and she wanted to help him.

"You're right." Takuya smiled back down at her.

"And anyways if there is a problem we'll face it the way we always have." Zoe reassured Takuya.

"Right! We'll all face it together." Takuya finished; his confidence returning.

With that the two turned and headed for the castle.

* * *

A few hours later Takuya's room once again light up with a bright light and the two found themselves standing before the computer once more.

"That didn't make me feel any better." Takuya sighed as he slipped the DAT-X back into its holder on his belt.

"Yeah I know what you mean." Zoe rejoined with a sigh.

As silence fell over the room the two teens stood there trying not to act like being alone in Takuya's bedroom wasn't getting them a little flustered.

"I guess I should be getting home." Zoe mumbled before letting lose a nervous giggle.

"Yeah, your parents are probably wondering where you are by now." Takuya added with the same nervous gestures.

Before leaving the room Takuya turned and spoke to a new occupant in the room "Just stay here so my parents don't see you. Once I see Zoe home I'll bring you something to eat."

"Right!" A new voice happily replied.

The two headed down the stairs in silence trying to think of what to say next when.

"Ohh! Takuya I didn't know you were home." Sora said surprised by his sudden appearance. She had been sitting on the couch looking through her drafting book.

"Hey mom! Welcome home." Takuya said with just as much surprise.

"Hello Mrs. Kamiya! It nice to see you again." Zoe popped out from behind Takuya giving a respectful half bow to Sora.

"Hello Zoe. It's always nice to see you around here." Sora added a small sly smile spreading across her face.

"What's with the look mom?" Takuya asked in a mock inquisitive voice.

"Nothing." Sora said in a whimsical almost musical tone.

"We weren't doing anything." Takuya retorted even thought he had received no prompt to respond with such an answer.

"I didn't say you were." Sora sung back.

"We weren't." Takuya stated boldly. While behind him a Zoe had to hide her face from view as a deep blush spread through her cheeks.

"Whatever you say son." Sora laughed. She knew they probably weren't doing anything but it was kind of fun to tease her son. It was most likely because he was so much like his father that she couldn't resist.

Takuya stood there trying to find some kind of response when Zoe interrupted his thoughts.

"Takuya I kind of need to get home." Zoe whispered from behind him after managing to push down the blush enough to talk once more.

"Umm… Right!" Takuya answered as he continued down the stairs with Zoe close behind.

"Goodbye Mrs. Kamiya." Zoe turned and said as she exited the living room.

"Goodbye dear and make sure to come by again." Sora called out to the girl before she returned to her drawings.

Pulling open the front door Takuya was met with another surprise. On the other side of the door was his father returning from work.

"Hey son. Hello Zoe." Tai greeted the two. He was happy to be home and to be greeted by his child.

"Welcome home dad. Mom's in the living room." Takuya greeted his father before he started guiding Zoe down the path away from the house.

"It was nice seeing you again Mr. Kamiya." Zoe gave Tai the same little bow she had given Sora before Takuya pulled her around the corner.

"Hehehe… I think I'm starting to see way Matt's beginning to dislike Takuya." Tai laughed. It might have taken him awhile but he was starting to see the connection between the two.

With a final laugh Tai went inside and set his bag down on the kitchen table before going into the living room and giving Sora a kiss on the top of her head. The two sat on the couch and enjoyed the time they had to themselves before Takuya returned and Shinya got back from his friends.

* * *

"So are you going to call another meeting tomorrow to discuss what Lady Ophanimon said?" Zoe inquired as they walked along the street heading for her house.

"Probably… It might not be much but they should still hear it." Takuya answered looking up into the sky with his hands raised up behind his head. After a few minutes they turned a final corner and walked across the street to the gate that marked the start of Zoe's driveway.

"Well goodnight Takuya." Zoe said giving Takuya a hug before she started up the walk to her house.

"Night Zoe." Takuya called after her. He stayed and watched her make it to the door and be let in by her mother who waved to Takuya before they both went inside. He then turned and made the walk home alone.

Night fell when he was about halfway home. The street lights that lined the road flickered on with a clicking sound casting pale yellow light onto the black surface below; while all around him warm light poured out of the windows of homes. It was a nice night. Nice enough to make him relax for awhile despite the feelings he had been having since yesterday. He felt like if this could all last he didn't need the interest and action being a Digidestine brought. But that peace wouldn't last as the quiet night was suddenly filled with the sound of pinging.

Takuya reached into his jacket and pulled out his cell phone. He flipped it open and hit the enter button bringing up the rift tracking screen. It was another contact point and not too far from his location either.

"I guess I'll get a chance to work off some stress tonight." Takuya tiredly laughed as he took a quick right turn down an alleyway heading towards the target location.

* * *

To be continued…


	6. A Step Closer to the Truth

**Chapter 6**

**A Step Closer to the Truth**

Moments ago Takuya had received notice that a Rift was going to be opening near him very soon and he went running off in search of it. He jumped over fences and ran through backyards trying to make good time. He had good reason to hurry too. The energy of the Rift he was racing toward was rising much quicker than he had ever seen before. When it reached a certain energy level the Rift would open and the digimon would appear and that time was going to be very soon. If it continued to rise at the speed it was Takuya wasn't going to make it before it opened. He might miss the opening by several minutes which would be plenty of time for it to go on a rampage and for people to notice it.

"What is going on? I've never seen one go this fast." Takuya said to himself as he cleared another fence.

The readings from the Rift had now reached the critical point; slowly turning the once blue target into a red one. The moment all hints of the blue were gone and it became pure red the Rift would have completely formed and the Rift Digimon would begin its rampage.

"Dammit! I'm not going to make it and there's nowhere safe around here to spirit evolve." He added to his earlier thought as ran past another family out for a peaceful nighttime walk. All he needed was an area where people wouldn't see him transform and take off into the sky; but right now there was no such place.

*BEEEEPPPPP…..*

Takuya's cell phone suddenly began to emit a long, loud beeping sound before it became completely quiet moments later.

"Damn…!" Takuya cursed. It was already too late the Rift was open.

* * *

"Thanks for the ride Izzy we didn't realize how late it was getting." Kari thanked Izzy from the backseat of his car.

"Yeah, thanks Izzy." TK added his own appreciation.

"It's no problem you two; but what made you decide to walk all the way to the park instead of driving?" Izzy asked as he pulled to a stop at a red light.

"You know how it is. You get to a street corner and the walk is so nice you decide to continue onwards, and then you do the same thing at the next one until you're a few miles from home and it's getting dark." TK laughed slightly embarrassed by the situation he and Kari had found themselves in.

"Hahaha… I wish Davis was here to hear that." Izzy laughed before the couple joined in.

*BEEEEEPPPPPPP*

The laptop beside Kari suddenly began to emit a loud beeping sound while the lights on the sides flashed rapidly. The cars three occupants jumped when the silence was broken and began to stare at the loud piece of technology. A second later Izzy shifted the car into park and reached into the backseat. He grabbed the flashing laptop and pulled it into the front seat with him where he flipped it open. The screen sprang to life revealing a colorfully map of the city. A location close to the cars position was highlighted with a flashing green target.

"It's close by…" Izzy said in a stunned voice.

"What's close by Izzy?" Kari asked as they all stared at the screen.

"Whatever's putting out that digital signal!" Izzy stated before he shifted the car into drive and pushed the gas pedal to the floor making a screeching right turn.

"Izzy, do you really have to go so fast?" TK question as he tested and retested his seatbelt making sure it was in working order; just in case.

"I've never been this close and the signals never been this strong." Izzy explained before turning another corner and slamming on the breaks.

"Okay now that hurt!" TK moaned as he rubbed his chest where the seatbelt and held him in place.

"Izzy, why'd you stop so suddenly?" Kari asked while she rubbed the same sore spots as her husband.

"We've got to hurry!" Izzy announced before he pushed open the door and grabbed his computer. With it in hand he ran around the front of the car, without even closing the driver's side door, and jumped the concrete barrier he had luckily managed not to hit; leaving the confused couple behind in the car.

"I guess we should follow him…?" TK finally spoke up in just enough time to see his wife jump the same concrete barrier and follow after Izzy. "Or it could just be me who had to think about it…?" He sighed before throwing open his door and chasing after the two.

The path beyond the stopped car was a winding dirt road that bent and curved randomly; all the while twisting upwards. It was apparently an old service path through the woods leading to some unknown part of the city. It didn't take long for Kari and TK to catch up with Izzy who had to stop every few seconds to check the readings on his laptop.

"Izzy, are you going to tell us what's happening?" Kari asked sliding to a stop next to Izzy who was at the moment trying to figure out which of the three turns to take. Izzy said nothing in response; far too distracted by his search to even hear the woman. After an understanding glance to the left he took off running again and the couple followed.

This path steadily began climbing upwards before giving way to a gap in the tree cover. Quickly after reaching the top they found themselves standing at the top of steep hillside that overlooked one of the many parks that populated the area. Down below was a field of unkempt grass and scattered trees; apparently this park wasn't used very much or at least this section of it wasn't.

The couple prepared to ask Izzy what was happening again before a slight rumble and a familiar feeling quieted their questions. This feeling was something that they hadn't felt in so many years but it easily came flooding back to them. Down in the clearing below, hidden in the shadows of the night something was moving. Something big. The steady small vibrations of its steps reached all the way up to them on the ridge. It just had to be; it had to be a digimon. The electricity in the air and the feelings in their bones told them so.

They stared down into the clearing peering through the darkness looking for anything moving amongst the trees and shadows. They neither breathed nor talked; all their focus concentrated on one single task. See the truth for themselves.

"GIGA CRACK" A voice suddenly roared out of the shadows. After that cry the park once again became quiet; but those on the ledge knew better. This was the quiet before the storm. The attack was just taking a moment to take effect.

Suddenly the earth shook violently sending rocks and breaks of earth sliding down the side of the hill. Down in the clearing large dark cracks opened wide in the ground swallowing and toppling trees. Towards the center of the disturbance a ring of trees collapsed revealing a large shaking shadow in the middle. The three observers held onto whatever they could, waiting for the quakes to end but the longer it went on the more intense it became. It appeared that whatever this digimon's attack was doing this it wasn't going to stop unless someone stopped the attacker.

"If this doesn't stop soon it'll tear apart the city!" TK yelled over the shaking earth. For now the quake seemed confined to the park but if it continued as it was it would soon spread to the houses and neighborhoods around them.

"ROSETTA STONE" A familiar cry rang out as several pink explosions struck the shadowy beast ending the quakes.

The flashes of pink illuminated the park revealing the massive green dragon. It stood on four thick scaly legs that terminated at three whites claws on the feet. Jotting out of the elbow joints of each limb were steel pistons. Where a normal dragon would have wings on its back this digimon had two massive arms tipped with armor plating and three long red claws at the ends. These arms were apparently how it launched the massive quake attack. Running along the full length of its back was a row of jagged red spikes of armor terminating at the tail which had a large steel spiky ball attached to the end. The head was pointed with two jagged horns sticking out the back and three spines pointing out from the face. It was now hunched over and baring its sharp white teeth at something floating in the air above.

"It's a digimon! And it's big!" TK announced. He like the rest was in complete shock at this moment. It had been eighteen-years since they had last seen a digimon and now here one was before them. The mixture of finally seeing a digimon again and the fact that it seemed to be trying to destroy the area had made it difficult for them to process exactly what was happening.

"It is! I knew it!" Izzy cheered before releasing his death grip on the fence post and picking up his laptop to locate and classify the digimon before him.

"Kari do you see that thing? Kari…?" TK turned to look at his wife in excitement before realizing she wasn't even paying attention to the dragon digimon below; but to the skies above it. Then it clicked for him. The attack they had just heard. Floating above the large digimon was a very familiar white digimon in shining armor.

"Nefertimon…" Kari awed as if she would cry for joy any moment. However that was before the reality before her and the rest sunk in. This was a fight, and it was only getting started.

"That's Groundramon!" Izzy shouted to the two before following their line of sight to the winged digimon in the sky. While TK and Kari's minds went to the familiar white cat Izzy had no idea what to think. Was the Nefertimon in the sky the same one they knew? Whatever had transpired to seal the Digital World might have changed everything they knew.

"MEGATON HAMMER CRUSH" The large green dragon called out as it swung it spiked wrecking ball of a tail at the flying digimon. With an agile grace the Nefertimon easily dodge the attack in midair before returning with one of her own.

"QUEEN'S PAW" Nefertimon cried out before launching a barrage of gems from the bracelets on her arms. They quickly sped towards their target closing in on the large digimons head; but with a simple swipe of the large arms on its back the gems exploded into fragments causing no damage to Groundramon.

"GIGA CRACK" Groundramon roared as it began to vibrate and the earthquakes started once again.

"QUEEN"S PAW" Nefertimon called out sending another barrage of empowered gems raining down on Rift digimon. But with a sick smile Groundramon again used one of the massive arms on its back to swat away the attack and the quake continued. Nefertimon had hoped that while doing that attack he wouldn't be able to defend himself but this proved to me a misconception.

"Stop it!" Nefertimon ordered while she dive-bombed the Rift digimon hoping that shortening the distance her next attack would have to travel the dragon digimon wouldn't be able to block in time. But something was wrong; the wicked smile on the Rifted grew wider.

"SCRAPLESS CLAW" Groundramon suddenly called out extending the massive arms on its back towards Nefertimon. The armored digimon had made sure to stay out of the reach of the claws but as they hurtled towards her they seemed to stretch until they clamped around her. The pain of the pressure ran through her body as the evil digimon began to sickeningly grind her in between its scaly paws; forcing the light digimon to cry out in pain.

"NEFERTIMON!" Kari cried out for the trapped digimon. As she did she clutched the D-3 in her purse ignoring the cold unresponsive feeling she was getting form it. All she could think about then was that the digimon before was in pain; her partner might be suffering.

With another sick smile Groundramon throw Nefertimon to the ground before him. She crashed into the ground with a painful bounce before sliding a short distance and coming to a stop. The pain had been too much; leaving her without the power to escape the massive scaly paw that Groundramon swung down to crush her. In a burst of dirt and pieces of grass the paw impacted.

"NEFERTIMON!!" Kari cried again falling to her knees fearing the worst possible outcome.

"Kari!" TK dropped down beside her and wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to comfort her. They all might have been on the verge of tears but they never took their eyes off of the spot where the winged digimon had disappeared under a cloud of dust.

A slight wind slowly wafted across the field working its way towards the impact point. It calmly began peeling back the dust cloud and the first thing that came into view when it did was the white fur of Nefertimon. The moment the group saw that the winged digimon was still alive a collective relief spread through them; while at the same time a new question arose within them. What had stopped the attack? As the dust cleared some more they could see the angry face of Groundramon staring down as his paw and it quaked slightly in the air.

"Hands off." An angry voice from beneath the large scaly paw growl.

In a final gust the dust blasted away revealing Nefertimons savior; BurningGreymon. However up on the ridge the three observers view of the new digimon was obscured by the large green scaly paw. They just stared waiting for what would happen next.

"Nefertimon are you alright?" BurningGreymon asked as he continued to hold up Groundramons massive arm.

"Yes… Just a little winded… and sore…" Nefertimon moaned, painfully getting back to her feet.

"Rraawwwhhhh!" Groundramon roared exerting more pressure downwards hoping to crush the two, but getting nowhere.

"Shut up!" BurningGreymon growled as he threw the arm to the side letting fall to the ground with a powerful thud. Up on the ridge the three final got their first view of the powerful dragon digimon that had seemed to come out of nowhere. It was unlike any digimon they had seen before; in some way it seemed to radiate with power.

"Who's that digimon?" TK inquired of Izzy, not taking his eyes off of the new digimon. Beside him Kari stared down at it; mentally thanking it for saving the Nefertimon. Instantly Izzy's fingers hit the keyboard as he worked the database to its limit.

After a few seconds Izzy spoke again "That doesn't make any sense!?" Izzy shouted as his fingers came to a rest.

"What doesn't make any sense Izzy?" TK asked taking his eyes off of the battle to concentrate on the computer genius; who seemed to be troubled by some recent development.

"That digimon… My scanner doesn't recognize it and I can't find anything like it in the database…" Izzy answered not knowing how to deal with the first time his computer had failed him.

"How can it not be in the database?" TK questioned turning back to the digimon below. He turned back just in time to see the new arrive slam its fist into Groundramons head making the larger digimon stumble backwards in a daze.

"Nefertimon, thanks from keeping Groundramon from tearing apart the city. But now get out of here and leave this to me." BurningGreymon stated as he watched Groundramon stumble and come to a stop. The larger digimon seemed to be very angry now; but a weakling like him wasn't going to scare Takuya.

"Are you sure?" The armored digimon asked. BurningGreymon just gave her a thumbs up before he slowly walked off to finish the fight. With her answer Nefertimon kicked off of the ground putting some distance between herself and the soon to be battle field.

"Is that new digimon going to take on Groundramon on his own?" TK inquired to no one in particular. The digimon did appear to be strong but the size difference between the two made it seem uneven.

"More important than that… Where is its partner?" Izzy questioned as he began to scan the park below for any sign of a child with digivice. The other two quickly joined him hoping that the child would call out to his partner or at least make his presence known during the fight. But there search was cut short when the field burst into a flurry of flames.

"WILDFIRE TSUNAMI" BurningGreymon roared as he released the flood of flames upon his foe. In response Groundramon braced himself and brought down his massive arms blowing away a good share of the flames. His ploy had worked for the most part but the flames had still burned the large digimons arms and sides sending pain shooting through it. But this wasn't the end of Groundramons pain BurningGreymon was going to make sure of that.

As soon as Groundramon raised his large arms out of the way so he could see his opponent he was greeted by the charging form of BurningGreymon. He easily slipped through Groundramons defenses and slammed his fist into the massive digimons snout. The impacted erupted with searing flames and Groundramons roars of pain. Not wasting an opportunity BurningGreymon grabbed hold of the reptilian digimons face and used all of his strength to slam it into the ground. Again Groundramon roared in pain and surprise as his head was slammed into the hard earth and the front half of his body was twisted onto its side.

Up on the ridge the three former Digidestine stared down at the scene that was unfolding before them. This small in comparison digimon was easily throwing this massive digimon around. The sheer power and strength it was exhibiting was much different than what they were used to during their days.

"Look at him go…" TK commented as Groundramons head hit the ground before the smaller digimon began to twist it turning the front half on its side.

"Yeah…" The other two respond not taking their eyes off of the battlefield. They were still trying to find the digimons partner but it was getting increasingly hard to look away from the battle. It had been many years since they had seen any sign of digimon and now here were two fighting it out before them. They really couldn't be blamed for being distracted.

"PYRO BARRAGE" BurningGreymon growled releasing another pointblank attack on the digimons head. With this combined attacks he managed to inflict some serious damage leaving Groundramons left eye burned shut and shattering a few of the digimons large teeth. However this time Groundramon wasn't going to let the assault on him go unanswered.

"MEGATON HAMMER CRUSH" Groundramon roared in anger as it brought the metal spiked ball over its shoulder and down on the spot where BurningGreymon stood. It impacted the ground with a powerful crash shattering the soft earth and digging a crater in the dirt. Leaving the ball buried in the earth Groundramon got to its feet once more and began to sickly smile in triumph.

"What are you smiling about scaly?" BurningGreymons asked from somewhere behind the metal ball. Hearing that voice again Groundramons blood froze and his eyes widened in fear.

In the next instance the large spiked metal ball rushed forward and lifted off of the ground. With a final push BurningGreymon forced it into Groundramons face shattering its front teeth and wedging the large ball into the surprised digimons mouth. "Now maybe you'll finally shut up." BurningGreymon added with a laugh as he prepared to bring the fight to an end.

Charging up is next attack with intense flames BurningGreymon brought his left fist forward and roared "BURNING GREY BASHER". His fist impacted with a powerful blast of flame and force, driving the ball further into Groundramons mouth and putting a large crack in the ball. Taking another step forward he brought his right arm to bear and slammed it into the ball with a second "BURNING GREY BASHER". Pushing the ball back further and blowing it to pieces with a powerful explosion.

The resulting explosion turned the fragments of the once devastating spiked ball into speeding shrapnel which tore its way through Groundramons body. With pain coursing through its shredded and useless body Groundramon fell to the dirt in a heap. Its large red eyes glazed over and its breathing became shallow. The fight was over and the only thing left was the merciful finishing blow from BurningGreymon.

"It's over…" Kari noted after seeing Groundramon fall. She was glad that the fight was over and the city was safe.

"That's good. We should be able to get a good look at its human partner when they go to send Groundramon back to the Digital World." Izzy stated his eyes darting about for any form approaching the red dragon digimon.

"I don't know Izzy… Something feels different about this situation…" TK commented. He could feel that this wasn't like the battles they had fought with Davis and the others. This one felt very different in some way.

"What do you mean…" Izzy began to ask before he got his answer.

Down below BurningGreymon slowly walked the short distance between himself and Groundramon. Once he reached Groundramons head he raised his right leg and planted his foot directly between its large reptilian eyes. He then leaned back slightly letting his arms fall to the side before the golden blaster on his right arm sprung open and began eradiating a crimson heat. As it quickly increased in temperature Groundramon stared at it in disinterest. Takuya really hated that look. They never seemed to care that the end was upon them. As if the little bit of chaos and destruction that had brought was worth their lives… as if they weren't really alive to begin with.

"What is he doing…?" Kari began to ask before the answer became obvious. With a low roar BurningGreymon brought his right blaster forward and plunged it deep into Groundramons head. "PYRO BARRAGE" It roared as flames began to pour out of the wound. After a second of this BurningGreymon pulled its arm out and began walking away. Groundramons eyes simply closed and a second later it burst into a flurry of digital bits. Up on the ridge the three watched in utter shock; unsure of how they should feel about what they had witnessed.

"Why did he destroy Groundramon!? Couldn't he have just sent him back?" TK said as he clenched his fist. Izzy and Kari were also having their own reactions to the current situation.

"I don't know. And I still haven't seen any sigh of its partner." Izzy commented while he never stopped looking for a sign of a chosen child. But soon looking would no longer be an option as the dragon digimon lifted into the air with a powerful flap of its wings and headed towards the Nefertimon that continued to circle in the skies above.

"Let's get out of here before someone shows up." BurningGreymon instructed Nefertimon before arching over and flying away from the park. Down on the ridge the three watched as the two digimon disappeared into the night sky, leaving them with more new questions than answers.

* * *

"Thanks again for intercepting that one." Takuya thanked the small white feline digimon sitting on his desk before he let himself fall back into his bed. "I don't even want to think what would have happened if you hadn't shown up when you did Gatomon." He added as he listened to the small digimon jump down from the desk and walk over to his bed. With a small jump she was on the bed and made her way to Takuya before lying down next to him. When she did Takuya reached out his arm and began stroking the feline digimons white fur.

"You don't have to thank me. That's why I'm here." Gatomon purred happily as she tried to forget about her injuries and concentrate on the gentle petting. "Anyways I couldn't pass up an opportunity to see the human world for the first time." She added with a long happy purr as Takuya found a good spot behind her ear.

"Remind me to thank Lady Ophanimon for sending you back with me to help keep an eye on things." Takuya noted as his voice slowly became quieter.

"Sure…" Gatomon replied before falling silent. With that the two drifted off to sleep to recover from the long night.

For these two the day was done but for the older members of the family the night had only begun.

* * *

To be continued…


	7. The Nights Events

**Chapter 7**

**The Nights Events**

"Hey dear, where's Takuya?" Tai inquired turning his attention away from the soccer game on the television. With a game this big on television Tai wondered why his eldest son wasn't on the couch next to him and Shinya. He did enjoy watching the game with Shinya but the younger boy wasn't into the sport as much as he and Takuya were.

"He looked pretty tired when he came home and went straight to his room. So he's probably asleep by now." Sora answered her husband shifting her gaze to the stairs her son had disappeared up less than an hour ago. She still had a strange feeling that something was going on with him but she was still unable to lock down the problem.

"I'll go check on him. This is just too good of a game for him to miss." Tai stated hopping up from the couch after another round of commercials started and quickly made his way to the stairs. Sora just gave a little laugh as her husband bounded up the stairs to retrieve his missing son. She had always been amazed by how attached he was to his eldest son. Actually it had always been that way since Takuya was born.

Tai quickly made his way up the stairs, two at a time, and to his son's door. Once there he knocked on it and called out to his son in a low voice. "Takuya you still awake…" He waited for an answer but when he received none he reached down and took hold of the knob. The door shifted and light began to pour out of the room as Tai slowly pushed it open. Behind the slowly opening door Takuya and Gatomon slept on the bed oblivious to the world. But a sudden ring of the phone brought him to a stop as he listen to see if someone was going to pick it up. When he heard Sora answer he returned to checking on Takuya.

"Tai, can you pick up the phone in the bedroom?" Sora called up the stairs; bring Tai to a stop again. Tai stood there and thought about why she was telling him to use the phone in the master bedroom until something dawned on him. Whatever whoever was on the phone wanted to talk about was something they couldn't talk about in front of the children.

"Sure." Tai yelled back as he quietly pulled Takuya's door shut and walked down the hallway to the master bedroom. He pushed the door shut before he walked over to the bed and picked up the phone. The first sound he heard was Kari's voice talking to two others in the background. "Hello…" Tai said telling her that he was on the phone.

"Tai you're not going to believe it. We saw one." Kari excitingly said into the phone. Tai could only speculate on what she was talking about; but it had to be something pretty big to get his sister so hyper. Before Kari began to elaborate on the subject Tai heard a click that signified Sora had hung up the downstairs phone and he could already hear her coming up the stairs. A few seconds later she pushed open the door and took a seat next to him on the bed.

"Saw one what?" Tai inquired as he tilled the phone so he and Sora could both listen to it.

"A digimon… three actually." Kari calmly stated trying to get her excitement under control. As soon as she had said those words she wished she could have been there to see her brothers face. She could only imagine the gambit of emotions he must have been feeling then.

"Are you serious?" Tai excitingly yelled into the phone driving both Kari and Sora away from the phones. On the other end Sora could here TK and Izzy comment that Tai must be shock about the news. She guessed they had probably been able to hear his yell over the phone from a good distance away. But she couldn't really blame him for being so animated. This is the moment they had been waiting for these eighteen years.

"Where?" Sora calmly asked in the place of her husband who still seemed to be processing the good news.

"At the old park a few miles from here. You know the place where I used to take Tomoki when he was little before they closed it down." Kari answered making sure her sister-in-law understood where she was talking about.

"What happened?" Tai suddenly interjected sensing that something was amiss. Somehow he knew this call should be going much differently if there was still a digimon roaming around the real world.

"It's a pretty long story Tai. Izzy thinks it's important to talk about this now so he's trying to get everyone over here tonight." Kari stated putting her brother's question on hold until they could talk about it face to face.

"Hold on!" Kari shouted over the phone making sure they wouldn't hang up on her. "I don't really like the idea of leaving Tommy alone for so long." She stated with what seemed like no real point.

"He's thirteen now sis. I think he can look after himself." Tai stated. But in the back of his mind he realized that they had no idea how long this meeting could last. If the information was that serious they could be out all night.

"I'm sure Shinya would love to have a sleepover at your place with Tommy. They really haven't gotten a chance to play together since we came back from the beach." Sora offered in an understanding voice.

"Thanks Sora." Kari happily sighed into the phone before hanging her end up.

"What about Takuya?" Tai inquired as the couple started getting dressed to go out.

"He's out already. And the way he sleeps he'll be out until morning." Sora answered her husband. When it came to her family she always had the correct answer.

"Okay I'll go and tell Shinya what's going on." Tai offered as he slipped on his shoes and headed downstairs to talk to his youngest son. Soon Sora heard Shinya come running up the stairs and straight into his room. After a few more minutes Sora was ready to go and she made her way towards the stairs. As she exited the room Shinya's door burst open and the young boy came running out with a hastily filled overnight bag and few of his videogames under his arm. Apparently he was pretty excited about spending the night at his cousins unsupervised.

"Just when I think he might be more like me then his father this happens…" Sora laughed as she looked in the young boy's room. He had apparently been in quite a hurry to pack because rejected clothes and toys had been thrown around the once clean room. With another laugh she reached into the room and flipped the light switch into the off position before closing the door to his room; while at the same time making a mental note to get on him about cleaning it up tomorrow. In a few steps she found herself in front of Takuya's door and her eye's instantly locked onto the light pouring out through the cracks of the door.

"I don't see how he can sleep with the lights on like that. Must be his father's influence." She sighed taking hold of the door knob and pushing it open slightly. Sora then stuck her arm inside and ran her hand up the wall until she found the light switch and flipped it too into the off position. She had turned off his lights like this so many time now that she didn't even have to look anymore. All thanks to her sons strange sleeping habits.

With the house in order the three family members quietly exited the house through the front door and made their way to the family car. After they left it would be a short trip to TK and Kari's place to drop off Shinya and then a longer drive across town to Izzy's.

* * *

"Where are you two going so late at night?" Koji inquired as he reached the bottom of the steps and spotted his parents getting their things together to leave. The family had already settled in for the night so it was strange to see them leaving the house now.

"We have to see an old friend." Ken answered his son as he helped his wife into her coat.

"Why so late?" Koji continued to ask.

"That's not really important." His mother smiled before she walked over to the highchair and lifted baby Sayomi out of it. She then walked over to Koji and handed the teenage boy his little sister, who giggled in his hands and tried to grab hold of the lose strands of his hair. "She just ate so she'll probably be ready to go to sleep in about five minutes. Watch her until then. Once she's down you two will have the night to yourselves." Yolei instructed her son.

"Sure mom. We'll take good care of her while you two are gone." Koichi interjected as he walked up from behind his brother and began playing with Sayomi. "Isn't that right little Sammy?" He playfully asked not really expecting an answer.

"Okay, I left some money on the kitchen table so you two can order a pizza or something. And Izzy's number on the fridge in case you can't reach us by cell phone." Ken explained pulling his car keys off of the rack by the door and slipping them into his pocket. "We might not be home until very late so don't bother waiting up for us." He added before opening the door and motioning for his wife to exit first. She quickly stepped out and Ken began to close the door behind him but before he could Yolei turned on her heels and yelled back to her kids.

"I love you three. Take good care of your sister." She happily cheered. Ever since they had gotten the call about digimon from TK she had been feeling very energetic. It was as if all that energy she had as a kid had come rushing back to her. Inside her two older kids tried to brush off the whole embarrassing moment with smiles, while they thought about how weird their mother could be at times. And with that the door swung shut and a few moments later they heard the car start and drive off into the night.

"That was weird…" Koji sighed looking down into his little sister's face just in time to catch her first yawn of the night. "Here." He noted handing Koichi the baby Sayomi. The older twin took her with a smile before he began to rock her back and forth hoping to speed up the sleeping process.

"So what do you want to order?" Koichi asked as quietly as he could; so as not to wake his little sister who had almost drifted off by now.

"Don't really know… Pizza sounded pretty good." He responded with a shrug. Koji's mind had been on other things since the evening when the Rift Tracker had gone off. It seemed that Takuya had eventually taken care of it, but what had been bothering him was how quickly the Rift had opened. It had opened in about a fourth of the normal time; which wasn't a good sign. This incident also added more evidence to Takuya's claim that something was happening outside the norm.

"Okay where do you want to order fro…" Koichi began to ask when a familiar pinging sound filled the quiet house.

"The Rift Tracker! It's already going off again!" Koji noted aloud. But still managing to keep it low enough as to not wake his little sister who had drifted off while they talked.

The twins quickly made their way to the living room where the closest of the cell phones sat on the coffee table pinging and vibrating to be picked up. Koji quickly jumped the couch and sat down before picking up his phone and flipping it open. The holographic map sprang to life and a green target not too far from the house appeared on the screen. But they didn't instantly move out this time. Instead they exchanged questioning looks and concern.

Never before had more than one Rift opened in a day. They would normally have at least three days after one opened before a new one would appear. There had actually been incidents of them having an entire month between hits. But this was time there had only been a few hours between signals. This could not have meant anything good and the twins weren't the only ones thinking so at the moment.

In other homes scattered about the town Zoe, Tommy, and JP sat staring at their phones knowing that something bigger was going on. Takuya was the only one obvious to what was happening as his phone continued to ring on the small table by the front door; filling the house with an echoing ping. Since he was so tired and not expecting another alert he had left it downstairs so he could rest uninterrupted.

"We should probably get go…" Koichi began before he stopped talking and both their eyes landed on the baby asleep in his arms. In the heat of the moment they had completely forgotten that they were now babysitting. Meaning only one of them was going to be able to go.

"I'll pick up some pizza on the way home then." Koji smiled realizing that he wasn't the one holding the baby. Koichi had no room to argue so he just let out a defeated sigh and hung his head. While Koji prepared to leave Koichi quickly set Sayomi down in her crib and ran back downstairs just in time to see Koji yank open the front door.

"Make sure to call someone for backup if you run into trouble." Koichi made sure to remind his brother. Normally he wouldn't have to but with this strange development he felt compelled to make sure he did. Koji just gave him an understanding nod before running out the front door and into the darkness of the night; hoping to beat the opening rift.

* * *

"It looks like quite a few people are already here." Tai noted as they pulled up out front of Izzy's house and spotted several cars parked outside. Luckily it was a big residence so there wouldn't be a problem with fining paring when the rest showed up. The house itself was pretty big, not as big as Matt and Mimi's, but still pretty big. It was standing proof that there was a lot of money to be made in the technical sector.

Pulling the car into an empty space out front and turning off the ignition the couple exited the vehicle and made the short walk up to the front door. Once they were there Tai reached for the doorbell but before he could push it the front door swung open and out stepped a women with short dark brown hair and light brown eyes. She was half a head shorter then Sora and dressed in a long coat. Apparently she was on her way out.

"Hello, Michiko." Sora greeted the woman with a smile. The woman jumped slightly finding that she wasn't alone on the porch, but once she saw who it was she smiled back.

"Evening Sora. Tai." Michiko smiled back at them.

This woman is Michiko Koushiro; Izzy's wife of sixteen years. They had met during Izzy's first big project. She was an artist working in conjunction with the company that had hired Izzy to write a new operating system for a whole new generation of cell phones. Michiko had taken the job of designing pictures for the advertising campaign to supplement her painting career. One day she ran into a creative block and decided that if she talked to one of the programs she might be able to get some fresh ideas. The first programmer she happened to find was Izzy and she was instantly fascinated by him. He wasn't the completely nerdy type she expected from someone who was a programmer. He was still kind of nerdy, but in a cute way.

But what really attracted her was the way he talked about programming, code, and design. He talked as if they were living breathing thing. It was the same way that she viewed art. The two of them eventually started dating and were soon married and blessed with a son, Teppei, a short time later. The following year they had a daughter, Chiaki. And now they lived comfortable together as a family.

"Where are you heading?" Sora asked. She didn't really see why the woman was leaving since she already knew about the Digital World and digimon. Michiko had actually been locked in the stadium with Sora at one point during Myotismons invasion, so she had some firsthand knowledge of it.

"I'm taking Teppei and Chiaki out to a movie and to get something to eat." Michiko answered with a wink. In reality she was getting the kids out of the house so they could have their meeting in private.

Moving to the side Sora and Tai let the woman and her two children pass by. The first kid out the door was the quiet Chiaki. She had long dark brown hair tied in a long braid and brown eyes which were normally cast down. The girl was an awkward and quiet child much like her father when he was young. And just like her father she had inherited an incredible intelligence and skill with computers. But in the last few years after becoming friends with Takuya and his gang she had begun opening up more and more. She was still kind of mousy but she didn't just go with the crowd anymore.

The second kid out of the door was the oldest of the Koushiro children, Teppei. He was a year older than his sister; the same age as Takuya. His hair and eyes were the same shade of brown as his sisters but he was at least a head taller than her and had to wear glasses. The boy was more like his mother in regards to his skills but unlike his mother he used to have a nasty habit of being a bully. But he had grown out of it a few years ago and turned into a decent enough boy.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya." The two children bowed before following their mother to the black minivan at the end of the driveway. With a wave goodbye from Michiko the van pulled out and was soon gone from sight.

"Those two have grown since we saw them last." Sora commented as she and Tai stepped inside the open door and slipped off their shoes.

"Hey Izzy we're here." Tai called out to Izzy unsure of where the meeting would be held. The two waited for a response but when it never came they began walking further into the house hoping they would find some sign of the others. The Koushiro house was an interesting mixture of art and technology. The walls were lined with paintings, most of which had been painted by Michiko herself; while cutting edge appliances and electronics could be found on every shelf and in every room.

"This seems new." Tai smiled as he leaned in to look at a new painting with a black frame hanging in the living room. As soon as he got close the image suddenly shifted to a different painting surprising him. "Now that's cool." Tai laughed as he put his hands against the display screen of what was apparently a monitor. This complete fusion of art and technology pretty much summed up Izzy and Michiko's relationship perfectly.

"I wonder if Izzy built it himself?" Sora pondered as she watched the image change again.

"I asked him the same thing earlier, but he's way too distracted to answer me." Kari answered the question. The couple turned and found her standing before the stairs that lead to the basement. "Everyone's waiting downstairs. We just have to wait for a few more people to arrive." Kari added with a smile.

"At least that means were not the last one's here." Tai noted with a laugh. As the three shared a small laugh Tai looked his little sister up and down, making sure that she hadn't been hurt in her run-in with whatever digimon they had seen that night. When he didn't see anything out of place he came to the conclusion that they hadn't been directly involved in what had happened.

"We dropped Shinya off at your place and gave Tommy your message." Sora commented making sure she put any of her sister-in-laws worries about her child to rest.

"Thank you." Kari sighed before motioning for the two of them to follow her downstairs. Once they reached the basement they were greeted by waves and nods from those who had already gathered. Matt, Mimi, Ken, Yolei, TK, and Joe sat comfortably on the various couches and chairs scattered about the basement. In the corner Izzy was fiddling with what they assumed was a very complex computer. But they couldn't tell since it was made up of nine thin monitors, which cascades of digital information ran across.

"Hey Izzy." Tai called out to his distracted friend. The computer genius didn't respond. He just continued to work on the strange large steel box before him as if he didn't hear Tai talking to him. Over Izzy's shoulder Tai and Sora could see the inside of the box which was filed with countless cables, computer boards, and flashing lights. Every so often they would see him pull out one cord only to attach it somewhere else within the tangled mess.

"Okay…" Tai sighed as he sunk back into the old couch next to Matt. Sora joined him a second later and rested her head on his shoulder while they began awaiting Davis and Cody's arrival. Within ten minutes the two remaining Digidestine had arrived and the meeting was just waiting for Izzy to finish his work so it could begin.

"You all know for the most part why we called this meeting." TK spoke up after noticing that Izzy didn't seem to be any closer to finishing what he was doing then he did half an hour ago.

"Yeah. I can't take it any more TK. Tell us what happened." Davis voiced in an excited and slightly annoyed tone. TK would have liked to be angry at his hot blooded friend for his interruption but by the looks on the others faces Davis was merely voicing the group's opinion.

"Now we'd like to fill you in on the details." TK finished as if he didn't hear Davis's comment.

"Actually we can do better than that." Izzy suddenly cheered as he shut the metal door of the computer box and stood up. The group just gave him an interested look as he picked up his laptop and connected it to some wires coming out of the large box. Once they were all in he picked up some kind of remote off the top of the box and walked over to the side of the nine monitors before turning to face the group.

"What do you mean Izzy?" Mimi questioned, knowing that he had some kind of new treat he wanted to show them. "I'm going to show you." He replied with an excited smile.

Pushing one of the buttons on the remote the nine monitors went black before an image slowly began to fill the screen. After a few seconds the fuzzy picture cleared revealing an aerial view of a dark forest. Far off in the background buildings alive with light could be seen.

"Izzy is this…?" TK began to ask after recognizing the landscape.

"Yes. It's a recording of what happened in the park." Izzy smiled with a hint of achievement in his voice.

"But how? I didn't see a camera on you or your computer." TK inquired trying to figure out how Izzy had captured this footage.

"It's thanks to a new program and hardware combination I've been working on with Michiko. It scans a certain radius around my laptop to gather data. Then this image box converts that data into actual images." Izzy proudly stated pointing to the box he had been working on moments ago. "But it drains the battery so fast right now that it makes it impractical to use. If the fight had lasted another two minutes my laptop would have died." He added with a sigh.

A sudden rumbling noise from the speakers told the three who had witnessed the incident that it was time to quiet down, since the show was about to begin. The other nine former Digidestine watched in silence as the large dragon digimon made its appearance on the screen and began its ensuing rampage. Their attention turned to Kari when the familiar form of Nefertimon graced the screen and brought Groundramon's quakes to an end. She just gave them a confused shrug in return. She was still unsure as to the identity of the Nefertimon she had seen before her. The group cringed as Nefertimon was taken down and about to be deleted. Then they watched in awe as the unknown fire digimon made its appearance and brought Groundramon to its knees.

"So where you able to get anything about whose partner it was when they sent Groundramon back to the Digital World?" Ken asked Izzy making the assumption he knew what was going to happen next. Across from him Izzy said nothing. He just continued to stare at the screen in silence. Something about the way Izzy was acting told Ken what was going to happen next was important.

On the screen the mysterious fire digimon stood before its downed opponent with its back to audience. Then taking a step forward it approached the large digimon and planted its foot on Groundramons face before leaning back and its blaster burst open. They all might never have witnessed a scene such as this in life, but they still knew what was coming. In the next instant it drove the blistering points into Groundramons forehead with a roar. Then it withdrew it, scattering Groundramons data, and flew into the sky to join the Nefertimon circling above. After that the image faded to black and the recording came to an end.

For a few minutes afterwards they all just stared at the black screen trying to process all they had seen. After eighteen years of nothing, a three digimon battle in the park and the brutal finish was a lot to take in.

"What was with that digimon deleting Groundramon like that?" Davis asked no one in particular. Around him the other Digidestine nodded their heads in agreement; they all felt it was unnecessary. Well all except two of them. Tai and Sora had felt something different than the others when they watched the fire dragon digimon law down the law. If they weren't mistaken it was almost as if they felt a sense of pride.

"I don't know… But I hope there was a good reason…" Ken voiced. He was one person who could understand that depending on the circumstances there might be a reason for such brutal actions. He had implemented such actions in the past against the control spire digimon.

"I don't see how… but you might be right Ken…" Yolei answered her husband with a solemn tone. On the couch Tai and Sora continued to remain silent unsure of what to say about their differing feelings and opinions.

Afterwards a discussion about every issue they could think of began and the meeting quickly began to drag on into the night.

* * *

"This should be the spot…" Koji said to himself as he scanned the old and broken parking lot before him. He didn't really expect to find anything at the moment since the Rift was only about seventy percent realized and wouldn't be opening until it reached a hundred percent realized. He was actually taking in the environment and planning a battle strategy incase his initial attack failed to end it.

Suddenly Koji's phone began to release its pinging alarm once more. This was strange since he had already responded to the alarm, so it shouldn't have been warning him again. He slowly flipped open the phone, as an uneasy feeling passed through him, and checked on what was going on. When he saw the display his eyes widened and affixed themselves to the display. Again scattered across the city the other Legendary Warriors were having the same reaction.

"Two… at the same time…!?" Koji whispered as he uneasily turned his head to the left looking to the spot where a second Rift would be opening some time after the one off to his right.

* * *

To be continued…


	8. Twice isn't as Nice

**Chapter 8**

**Twice isn't as Nice**

"Now it's not only two, no three in one night, but two of those three are opening right after each other…" Koichi worriedly whispered as he stared down at his display, while he simultaneously tried to rock baby Sayomi back to sleep. The second alarm would have had to gone off just as he went to check on his little sister. "Koji be careful… something's not right about tonight." He added closing the phone, not wanting to think about the situation he couldn't change since he had to watch the baby.

* * *

Lobomon stood with his swords of light in hand, poised to attack whatever came out of the first Rift. He could only hope it wouldn't be something to strong and that he would be able to finish it with an initial death blow.

Soon the time came and the Rift appeared like a tear in the air. Instantly Lobomon charged at the Rift with his blades ready to cut through the emerging digimon; however when he had only covered half the distance to the Rift he slid to a stop and stared at it with a confused look.

"What is going on…?" Koji questioned from within his spirit form. Normally when a Rift appeared the Rifted Digimon exited quickly, but this one had yet to even begin to leave the distorted space.

Putting away one of beam sword, while keeping one at the ready, Lobomon slowly walked over to the Rift and began to examine it. This in itself was a rare opportunity. Ever since the Rifts had begun opening there had never been time to investigate one. They would normally collapse in on themselves the moment the Rift Digimon emerged, leaving no chance to probe them. Taking advantage of the opportunity he ran his free hand along the air that surrounded the edges of the Rift, arcs of electricity jumping from the bluish tear and dancing across his fingers. As his hand moved the Rift seemed to change shape and bend with his movements. Showing that outside stimulus could affect the Rift itself; maybe proving the Rifts had a more physical form than just energy.

"Interesting…" Koji mused as he began to circle the Rift making his observations. After a minute he had completed a rotation around the Rift and found himself back in front. It was only referred to the front because opposed to the other side which was rippling field of bluish light this side had a center of white static; like a television which isn't receiving a signal. This was always the side the Rifted would emerge from.

"I wonder…" Lobomon pondered aloud before he raised his free arm again and began to move it across the surface of the front, but before he could reach the edge he twitched and brought up his sword. In the next instant a flash of red erupted from the Rift and struck Lobomons beam sword, sending white sparks cascading through the air, and bounced off to the side.

"Damn!" Lobomon cursed at his close call, as he quickly turned his attention to the side that the blur of red had fallen to. Even though he did all of this quickly, all he caught was another blur of red as it dove into a patch of trees and shadows behind him. "Damn!" Koji cursed again having lost his target.

"This is not good." Lobomon sighed as he carefully made his way towards the trees using his swords to cast a pale white light over the area before him. The light pushed back the shadows slowly eliminating the area's his enemy could hide.

"SNIPE STEAL" A sharp voice snared before the red blur rocketed forth from the bushes and clashed with Lobomons blades once more. This time however Koji was ready for it and he swung up with the blades trying to cut the attacker in half. But his opponent proved to be just as quick and was able to deflect the slash and leap over Lobomons shoulders. Lobomon quickly whipped around and got his first good look at his enemy.

It was a very slender fox like digimon, about the size of a large dog and covered in red fur. Each of its four large paws had three long purple jagged claws. Starting from its ankles a mixture of black leather belts and cold armor wrapped around it until it terminated at loops over its shoulders. Its bony shoulders slumped down to its tightly wrapped ribcage and rail like waist. Running along its underside was white fur and behind it a sleek tail, equal in length to the body, swished about angrily. Its head appeared to be mostly made up of a large set of jaws with large white razor sharp teeth. What little bit of the head that wasn't teeth, was a pair of pale golden eyes, black nose, two pointed ears and a rough mane of fur.

After taking in the full appearance of his opponent Koji began comparing it to all the pictures he had seen in the digimon catalogs Lady Ophanimon had given them. However, this function was only on their phones and home computers; neither of which he could access while holding both his swords outstretched in an attempt to keep the digimon at bay. Suddenly like a flash he found the information on this digimon in his memory.

"You're a Fangmon… Champion level." Lobomon noted taking a step towards the now identified digimon. In response Fangmon just continued to release a low angry growl at him, neither denying nor confirming Koji's claim. "Not the talkative type, are you…? Good I was hoping for a quiet night." He added with a sly smile and another slight step forward.

Koji slowly closed the distance between himself and the snarling Fangmon one careful and controlled step at a time. This kind of slow approach was Koji's style, and normally it wouldn't be a problem; but this time the knowledge that another portal would be opening in the same location loomed in his mind. If he didn't want this to become a two on one battle, or even worse, have one of them run off to the nearby neighborhood and go on a rampage while he fought the other.

"LOBO KENDO" With a sudden lunge Koji launched himself forward and brought his blades up in a sweeping motion cutting the night air with its intensity. Koji's slash was fast, but this time Fangmon proved to be faster when it shifted to the side and jumped back. When Koji's swing went wide Fangmon saw its chance and lunged at Lobomons exposed back. But proving that he's always thinking Koji leaned further into the attack and spun himself over, bring the blades back to bare on Fangmon over his shoulder. This impressive show of swordsmanship would normally have finished off any digimon, but due to Fangmons slender frame it managed to avoid the fatal blow. In mid lunge it twisted and extended its body, allowing it to slip through the gap in-between Lobomons two blades.

With this exchange over, the two combatants found themselves in the same situation as they were in before. Again they were a good distance from each other, staring down the other. However, things weren't equal and Koji knew it. Each second he spent fighting was another second closer to the other Rift opening and completely changing the situation.

"_I could try using KendoGarurumon against him… No… In my human spirit form I have a slight advantage, more so than I would have as two beasts going at each other."_ Koji pondered, but quickly rejected the idea. In many ways this fight symbolized Koji's fighting style. He tended to use his mind over his body, just like a human hunter trying to take down his animal prey.

"BLAST COFFIN" Suddenly Fangmons snarling jaws sprang open and dark blast of energy pour out. The concentration of dark energy instantly closed the gap and meet with Lobomons swords which sent the blast scattering off in different directions, to crash into the field behind him in small explosions.

"HOWLING LASER" Lobomon yelled as he quickly powered down one of his blades and used his now free arm to stabilize the laser in his own wrist. The shot of light erupted forth from the laser cannon and barreled towards Fangmons open mouth. Koji hoped by launching a quick attack before Fangmon had recovered from launching its own attack, he could put the beam of light straight down his opponent's throat. But once again Fangmons speed proved to be its saving grace as it quickly crouched to the ground, allowing the shot to go over its head.

"_Damn! It's like this guy was picked just to fight me!"_ Koji angrily cursed after another failed attempt. He was getting annoyed by how well this digimon was able to counter his moves. Koji was the type who used intelligence and speed to overcome his opponents, but Fangmon was cunning and fast as well. He knew that Fangmon could never win against him, but with help things might be different. This just seemed to be so perfectly stacked against him.

"HOWLING…" Koji prepared to launch another long distance attack when a sudden flash from behind brought him to a stop. Before he could even turn his head to look he could already hear the sparking energy of what he knew was behind him. The other Rift had become critical and now a new Rift Digimon was emerging from the tear of energy.

"Dammit…!" Koji cursed in a low growl as he jumped to the side so he could put both Fangmon and the Rift into his line of sight. He knew he needed to see the entire field and his enemies if he was going to come up with a new strategy.

Suddenly with a few arcs of electricity two gray points emerged from the Rift, followed by a large set of drooling jaws. Soon the whole digimon was out of the Rift and looking over the two digimon it found before it.

The digimon itself was a large insect type covered in a gray exoskeleton with red tattoos placed randomly about. It stood on four legs whose clawed feet were dug into the soft ground. Its torso consisted of three segments, starting small and ending in a large chest plate and broad shoulders. The arms were similar to the legs except they were covered in thicker armor on the arms and ended in large pincer like hands. Coming out from the back was a gray armor wing cover, level with the shoulders, and dual pairs of insect wings. The head consisted of a helm of the same gray armor that made up the rest of the body with dark gray hair sticking out of the back. Coming off of the large jaws were a pair of tusk like protrusions sharpened to a point at the tips.

"Great… An Okuwamon…" Koji moaned when he finished looking the digimon over. He wasn't happy about how this large digimon could cause some serious damage with its size alone.

The two Rift Digimon looked at each other for a moment before they turned towards Lobomon in unison. Apparently they could tell that they were alike and decided to gang up on the digimon trying to stop them. This was exactly the situation Koji had been hoping to avoid.

"Guess I've got no choice…" Lobomon growled clenching his fist. In the next instant he was swarmed by a cocoon of fractal code.

"Slide Evolution to… KendoGarurumon!"

With a flash of light Koji's beast form emerged and stared down his opponents. As KendoGarurumons piercing gaze fell upon the two Rift Digimon a sense of fear gripped the two. However, they quickly shook it off, believing that their numbers could overcome the Warrior of Light. Giving each other one last look the two digimon launched their attacks.

"BEETLE HORN ATTACK" Okuwamon buzzed as its tusks and helm began to fill with a purple glow. Once it reached a certain point the large digimon kicked off of the ground and rocketed towards his target.

"SNIPE STEAL" Fangmon whined as it leapt forwards with Okuwamon, hoping to drop Koji with a team attack. But all that this show of force did was send a smile spreading across KendoGarurumons face.

"HOWLING STAR" KendoGarurumon cried out as a pair of wing blades locked into place and began to course with a blue light. In the next instant, KendoGarurumon shot forward and passed directly between the two approaching enemies. Once he was past the two he slid to a stop and retracted his wheels.

"If I had know that you would make such a stupid mistake after getting some back up, I would have waited and not wasted so much time and energy trying to take you down beforehand." KendoGarurumon slyly laughed without turning to face his opponents. Behind him the two just stood there for a moment in silence, until Okuwamon let out a piercing cry. It quickly toppled over in agony, leaving the legs on the right side firmly planted in the ground. Unfortunately for the insect digimon they ended at the joints, where KendoGarurumons blades had severed them from the rest of its body. While Okuwamon rolled around in pain, Fangmon stood there motionless.

"You got overconfident Fangmon. If you had continued to fight like you had earlier you would have been better off, but when you got some back-up you tried to overpower me instead of using your speed. When you launched a combined attack with Okawumon you didn't have any room to dodge my attack with his massive body next to and above you." Koji explained. As soon as he had finished talking he retracted his blades, which snapped shut with a metallic ring, and Fangmons body slumped to the side before bursting into digital bits.

"Time to end this." KendoGarurumon growled as he slowly staked towards the Okuwamon, who at the moment was frantically rolling about and crying over its lost legs. When he was only a few feet away from Okuwamons head, the insect digimon stopped moving and stared into his opponent's eyes, knowing full well that the end had come.

"LUPINE LASER" KendoGarurumon roared as his mouth filled with light. As he slowly opened his jaws streaks of light poured out from between the gaps in his fangs. In an instant they opened wide and a blinding flash of light erupted forth and engulfed Okuwamons head. When the light subsided the Okawumon began to dissolve, beginning at its steaming neck until it reached the tips of its severed feet.

For a few minutes after the battle Koji stood on the empty battlefield and looked around. He thought about the how odd the fight had been, and how the Rifts had suddenly doubled up on him.

"I wonder what all of this means… It can't be a coincidence that this coincides with Takuya's feelings and the mysterious phone calls." Koji thought out loud to himself. Somehow he didn't feel too good about his victory. It had been a decent battle, but he felt that it was only the precursor to something new, something they would have to face at some point in the future. "Dammit, Takuya! You just had to be right this time… But right about what is the question." Koji added with a sigh. But with no hope of an answer that night he turned and headed to the closest pizza parlor to pick-up dinner for him and Koichi.

* * *

Somewhere in the Digital World, in a forest at night, a campfire burns while meat apples cook over its flame. Around the fire, waiting for the food to cook, sit a number of small figures.

"How much further do you think it is?" A small voice inquired of those around it.

"Not that much longer… I think… " One of the larger figures answered as it eyes the cooking meat.

"I wonder if it'll just be like the last few we checked…" The smaller digimon spoke again in a sad tone.

"I'm sure it'll be different this time…" The larger digimon responded with a slightly positive tone.

"Agumon's right, Patamon." A now familiar voice answered.

"You're right Biyomon… I still can't believe we all got separated like that…" Patamon sadly sighed as he recalled the situation.

"It's all because of those Royal Knights." Palmon finished the smaller digimons thought from her spot near the small creek that ran along their camp. It seems that the clear waters and soft earth were more to her liking then the meat apples roasting over the fire.

"I'm sure we'll find some of the others when we get to the next town." Agumon stated, hoping to raise the collective morale of the little group.

"Even if we find the others we still can't do anything without them..." Gabumon sighed, as he walked up to check on the meat apples, bringing the mood down once again.

"But there was all that talk four years ago about the return of the Legendary Warriors. They say that some humans were involved with them." Palmon added with a happier tone. "Then maybe it could have been…" She quickly trailed off as memories of her lost friend welled up inside.

"I don't know if it was them… or even if the rumors are true. All we can do for now is to keep looking for the others." Agumon sighed as he tried to make sense of all the rumors they had heard before and after the chaos four years ago. He could still remember how all the partner digimon had been living together after the incident that ended travel between the two worlds, and how they had all set out to confirm whether or not the talk that had reached them of humans in the Digital World had anything to do with their human counterparts. But, it had all ended so badly when their paths crossed with that of the Royal Knights and their fractal code harvesting. This incident had scattered the group and only now during the times of peace were they able to look for each other.

"I'm sure we'll see them again soon… I can just feel it." Biyomon added hoping to boost her own morale along with the rest of the groups.

* * *

Elsewhere in the Digital World, under the cover of darkness, the surface of the Dark Area continues to change. Nothing now enters or leaves the area and all around its perimeters no digimon can be found. Whatever is happening has slowed, but while it goes undetected by the outside world it will continue forward towards some evil design.

But tonight something different is happening here. Some figure is standing just inside the border of the Dark Area looking down at a valley below, where once a carpet of black leaved trees had blanketed the land. Now there was only ashen soil and the darkened tracks of unknown mechanisms in the earth.

"What does this mean?" The tall figure pondered as they stared at the scene below them. But with a sudden twitch the figures attention turned skyward to something approaching on the horizon. They started out as black specks but quickly began to grow larger. "Looks like I've overstayed my welcome." The figure mused as they turned and ran for the border hoping to avoid the eyes of whatever was coming their way.

* * *

To be continued…


	9. A Day in the Digital World: One

**Chapter 9**

**A Day in the Digital World: One**

Last night ended without anymore incidents and today the Legendary Warriors would be hoping for a break on their finally day of freedom before high school started on Monday. So for today the focus will fall upon a different group of friends, one that is seeking to reconnect with its missing members.

This group is made up of the partner digimon of the Digidestine. During an incident four years ago they all became separated from each other and now the small group current only consists of Agumon, Biyomon, Patamon, Palmon, and Gabumon. After the chaos of the attacks by the Demon Lords, Leviamon and Barbarmon, this small group has managed to come together and begin the search for the others.

"It looks like we're here." Biyomon announced as she and Patamon sailed just above the walking member's heads.

In the horizon a small village of adobe buildings rested against a cliff side came into view under the afternoon sun. This was one of the many little villages that had sprung up throughout the Digital World after things had settled down. Actually, it had probably been this way for a while now, not that they would know. This was a Digital World that was unfamiliar to them. No matter where they looked they couldn't find any remnants of the Digital World they had once known.

Eighteen years ago when the Digital and Human Worlds connection was severed the entire group could only remember passing out as their world went black. When they awoke it was to a new Digital World. In truth it wasn't new, it would seem that many eons had come and gone in this Digital World, which they were unaware of. They could no longer find familiar faces like Gennai or Azulongmon here, only a world very different from what they knew. This world was connected by systems of trains and rails that made travel across it easy, and landscapes so vast and varied that it made the world seem much bigger. It even had its own new form of digivolution. They would constantly hear talk of human and beast forms, especially during Cherubimons war and ensuing rampage, which continued to cause chaos until a legend of this world arose anew.

This world no longer spoke of the Digidestine, it was as if they had never existed, but instead had its own legendary beings. They were known as the Legendary Warriors, and their reappearance four years ago saved the Digital World from the brink of destruction. It also sparked stories which eventually reached the ears of the partner digimon who had withdrawn from this unknown world. The stories often spoke of humans among the Legendary Warrior, while others made no mention of them. Unfortunately for the partner digimon there were very little digimon who had seen these humans, and less that had survived the unraveling of the world. Many had been reformatted and only had hazy or brief memories of the Legendary Warriors. But never the less these stories started the partner digimon on a new search that had led to nothing but problems so far. The number one problem on the list had been the Royal Knights. Thanks to them they had to put the search for the humans on hold so they could search for their missing members.

"I can't wait to find a place to eat. I'm starving…" Agumon grumbled as his stomach growled to be fed. Behind him the others laughed at their friend's behavior before they too felt that pangs of hunger and his situation became all too real to them.

"It would be nice to get something to eat other than old meat apples." Gabumon commented as he tried to forget that they had been living off of what meat apples they could carry after leaving the forest a day ago. Since then it had been large expanses of dry cracked earth and blowing sands.

"That would be nice… Let's just hope they're willing to share some of their food or we're going hungry." Biyomon added hoping for the best.

"Water…" Palmon groaned her voice cracking as she stared at the village ahead. As a plant digimon all she wanted to do was leave the desert with its withering heat and lack of water behind her.

"The village of Desert Fire." Patamon read off of the sign he hovered in front of it just outside of the small city. "Kind of a fitting name for a place this hot." He added with a tired laugh.

"That's not why our village's named that." A small digimon announced. It was a small bear digimon with a blue baseball cap on its head, black fur, and blue eyes. Tied around its paws and waist were some blue belts. "The names Bearmon, and welcome to Desert Fire." He greeted them with a cheerful smile.

"Thanks" The group of digimon returned.

"What did you mean by what you said about the village's name?" Biyomon inquired, her interest peaked by his earlier statement.

"How about we get out of this heat for now and I tell you all about it while you all get something to eat." Bearmon replied motioning for the group to follow him.

They happily complied and followed Bearmon along the streets filled with stands and different rookie digimon like them. Soon they arrived at an adobe building that was bigger than all the rest. It appeared to be one of the few buildings in the area with a door and glass windows, the rest of the village seemed to just have holes cut into the walls for doors and windows. Pushing open the door a cool breeze blew out of the building and wafted across the group, bringing a needed relief from the heat. Inside they found a variety of different digimon seated around tables, enjoying plates of food and drink.

"Ahhh, air-conditioning…" Palmon happily sighed as she soaked up the feeling of the cool moist air.

"Close, but the cool air actually comes from the underground spring that flows into this building." Bearmon corrected pointing to a pool of water in the center of the room.

Without a word to the rest of the group Palmon made her way to the water's edge and grabbed hold a bucket a Numamon had been filling and poured it over herself. Instantly the color began to return to her leaves as she drew in the cool water through her roots. "Ahhh…" Palmon smiled in pure joy as her body went limp and she settled in next to the water.

"Well, it looks like Palmon's happy." Patamon commented as they all watched her little water dance. The rest just laughed in agreement.

Soon the partner digimon were sitting around a small wooden table near where Palmon had literally planted herself while Bearmon brought them some food.

"I really don't want to say this but we can't possible accept this food." Agumon sighed painfully as he looked over the spread before them. The rest of the group went silent as well, knowing full well what he meant.

"Why?" Bearmon questioned with a confused expression. They were obviously very hungry so he couldn't understand why they were turning down the food.

"We don't have any Digidollars to pay for this…" Gabumon admitted with a depressed sigh. When they had explained Bearmon looked at them for a few seconds before he started to laugh.

"It's not funny…" Agumon moaned.

"It's not that. It's just that we so rarely get visitors here in Desert Fire that if this was restaurant we'd never make a profit." Bearmon laughed as he explained. "This is the dining hall of our village, so the foods free for members of the village and the hand full of visitors we get here."

"Really!" The group cheered before they instantly dived into the food before them without waiting for anymore of an explanation. Bearmon just watched them happily.

"What's with that smile?" Agumon inquired pulling himself away from his food long enough to talk.

"It's just good to know our little village was able to help you. It's kind of our village's motto." Bearmon responded with the same smile.

"What do you mean?" Gabumon asked as Agumon returned to his food.

"It has a lot to do with the name of our village as well. For the longest time this village was called Desert Stead. It was a name with no real meaning, but two years ago that changed along with the name." Bearmon smiled.

"How so?" Palmon asked for the group, proving that she was still listening from within her Zen like state of bliss.

"Two years ago our village was attacked by a small army of digimon under the command of a two-bit gangster digimon who wanted to turn our village into his personal castle. We asked for help from the surrounding villages but no one cared to help us. We were just some dusty village in the middle of nowhere to them." Bearmon said with a reflective tone.

"What happened…?" The group asked in unison. The interesting story appeared to have been good enough to pull them away from their food.

"The army had no intention of letting us surrender after we refused the first time so we prepared ourselves for the worst. In the middle of the afternoon they attacked and our village chief went out to face them, knowing he was most likely going to die. He fought the first wave off valiantly, but quickly fell under their numbers. As the army circled his injured body, ready to finish him off, a warrior in red armor appeared. It was the Legendary Warrior of Flame. He had heard of our situation and come to protect us by defeating the enemy. He fought amazingly and took down the army leader, saving us." Bearmon concluded his story with another smile. "When no one else cared about us, he did. So we changed the name to the Village of Desert Fire in his honor and how he looked on that battlefield, fire moving over the desert sand." Bearmon proudly stated. "So to this day we try to follow his example by helping those in need of it."

"Wow… Wait, does that mean you've met one of the Legendary Warriors?" Agumon awed before realizing they might have finally found some answers to their questions. Before Bearmon could even register the question all the eyes were focused on him in anticipation.

"Not really… After the fight he left without even out getting our thanks. So only our chief ever met him in person." Bearmon answered. Something in his tone told them that he wished he could have.

"Can we talk to your village chief?" Biyomon pleaded on the behalf of the group.

"Well, he had business in another village and won't be back for some time. But once he's back I'm sure he'd be willing to talk to you." Bearmon answered sending the hopes of the partner digimon sinking to the floor. Bearmon could be talking about a long time, which they didn't have available to wait around when their friends were still missing. "So you're all interested in the Legendary Warriors as well." He added.

"As well?" Patamon questioned.

"Yeah, apparently another digimon showed up a few days ago and heard the story, then wanted to know if there were any humans with the Legendary Warrior." Bearmon clarify for them.

"What kind of digimon was it?" The group asked in unison, completely forgetting about the food before them.

"I didn't really see them myself so I'm not really sure… but they're still in town, so you can find out for yourselves." Bearmon noted.

"Where?" They all asked loudly, driving Bearmon back in his seat.

"From what I've heard they're staying at the rest station in the east end." Bearmon told the group who instantly jumped up from their seats and ran out the door, only to return a minute later. In an awkward silence Bearmon just stared at them, unsure of the reason for their return.

"…We don't know where that is…" Agumon admitted hanging his head in embarrassment along with the rest of the group. Bearmon tried to fight the laughter but parts of it leaked out.

"No problem, I'll show you were it is…" Bearmon said with a smile, doing his best not to make them feel anymore embarrassed by the situation. After a walk through the village they arrived at a building built into the adobe wall that encircled the small city. It had a large door, apparently made to accommodate a wide range of digimon sizes, which faced the path that lead out of the village.

"Here we are!" Bearmon announced. The moment he did the partner digimon ran inside and began looking around. Near the entrance there was a counter with a Numamon sitting on it.

"You all seem new! Can I get you a room?" The Numamon cheered happily. It was apparent that it must have practiced that line a few times before. The fact that it was also very excited about their arrival also came across.

"They're not looking for a room right now, Numamon." Bearmon answered for the group making the Numamon's smile fade. "They're actually looking for that digimon that arrived a few days ago. You know the one that was interested in the story about the Legendary Warrior of Flame."

The Numamon sat there on the table thinking over the question with a dumbstruck look on its face until it eye's suddenly widened with recognition and it reached down behind the counter and pulled out a large book. The book hit the table with a thud and fell open to a page full of different numbers and letter in Numamons own horrible chicken scratch writing.

"Ah, here it is… Room 108." Numamon stated before looking up and finding that only Bearmon still stood before him. "Where did they go?" He pondered looking from side to side for any sign of the small group.

"Most likely room 108." Bearmon laughed before he started walking in the direction he had seen the partner digimon run off in.

"105! 106! 107!" The members of the group announced as they passed each door until they got to the one they were looking for.

"Here it is! Room 108!" Agumon cheered after coming to a sliding stop in front of the door. Then with an anxious shaking in his hand he reached out and knocked his claws against the wooden door. For a few tense moments there was no answer, but suddenly the door giggled slightly before it began to swing open.

"Is the village chief back ye…" A very familiar voice buzzed from slight above their heads, but stopped when it saw the group standing before him.

"TENTOMON!" The group cried as they lunged at the hovering insect digimon, pulling him down to their pile on the floor.

"GUYS!" Tentomon excitedly cheered, overcome by the joy of being reunited with so many of his lost friends.

"Tentomon, where have you been?"

"Do you know where any of the others are?"

"We've missed you!"

"It's great to see you again!"

The mingled voices of the group piled on the floor happily asked and announced, not really caring if they got an answer at the moment. It was just so good to have gotten back together with another member of their long separated group.

After a few minutes they all managed to calm down and began sharing their stories. The group told Tentomon how they had all come together and set out in search of the others, while he told them he had been attempting to do the same thing while looking for information about what had happened to their Digital World. Up until this point he had failed to find either.

"So you haven't seen any of the others…" Agumon sighed realizing that they weren't that much closer to their goal.

"I'm also no closer to understanding why the Digital World changed so much…" Tentomon sighed as well as he thought back on all the time he had spent trying to figure that mystery out.

"Izzy would be proud to hear about all your research." Biyomon commented hoping to bring up the mood of the room which had quickly begun to sink after the joyful reunion.

"Yeah, she's right Tentomon. You sounded a lot like him when you were talking about your search." Palmon laughed.

"I guess when we've been with them as long as we have things begin to rub off on us…" Gabumon added before his voice sank when he remembered how long it had been since they had seen them.

"Enough of that!" Agumon suddenly announced having gotten tired of the groups falling morale. "Half of us have managed to reunite, and considering how big the Digital World is now, that seems to be a pretty impressive feat." The group just responded with nods of agreement, letting the heavy mood that had fallen over them fall away.

The comment about how big the Digital World was now was not a slip up on Agumon's part. While the size of the world hadn't changed, the amount of land mass had greatly increased. During their time the Digital World had only consisted of islands like File and the large land mass of Folder continent, but now the Digital World more resembled the make-up of the Real World. No longer comprised of mainly ocean and a few land masses scattered about the main continent of Folder. It is believed that nearly forty-five percent of the new Digital World is now comprised of land, which is a huge leap from the original ten percent of the old Digital World. Now the Digital World had many sprawling continents with varying conditions and environments. These differing environments were no long crammed together, but varied by position on the planet, and changed with the seasons. In many ways it was a near perfect copy of Earth.

"So Tentomon, why have you been hanging around here for so long?" Patamon questioned. It was kind of strange that after not finding anyone or anything of use in the village that Tentomon had stuck around. If he was on the same mission as them they would have expected him to have continued onto the next village wherever it might be.

"I was actually hoping to get a chance to talk to the village chief about his encounter with the Legendary Warrior of Flame… but it's starting to look like he won't be coming back anytime soon…" Tentomon sighed.

"So you're looking into those rumors too." Gabumon noted and Tentomon just nodded his head in agreement.

"You should have said that's why you're sticking around here." The voice of Bearmon suddenly interrupted from behind them. The small guide was standing behind them in the doorway watching them with a smile, apparently enjoying the happy atmosphere of their reunion.

"You can!" Tentomon excitedly responded, obviously believing that the Bearmon before him had some important information.

"I don't think it'll help much, but I should help you get on your way." Bearmon answered after second guessing himself, it would seem that he felt the information e had wasn't up to the level the group was hoping for. "As you seem to know the village chief left for a meeting in a neighboring village, but it seems that no one told you how long he'd be gone… From what he told me before he left he planned to be gone for over a month…" Bearmon concluded, quickly erasing the smiles on the digital partner's faces.

"Seriously…" Tentomon moaned having realized that he had just wasted the last three days. But he quickly cheered up when he thought about the fact that if he had left three days ago he wouldn't have been reunited with his friends like he had.

"Do you know which village he was heading for?" Agumon asked trying to keep things on track.

"Last I heard… he was heading for Green Haven in the forest at the foot hills of the mountains in the east." Bearmon answered pointing out the window towards the distant mountain range peaking over the horizon.

"Then I guess we'll head there next." Agumon stated looking back towards the group for approval.

"You should probably rest her for tonight and then head out in the morning, since the desert around here can actually be more dangerous at night than in the daytime. Tonight will give you a chance to get some rest while I round you all up some supplies for the trip… and if you don't mind I also have some letters that have to be delivered to chief Leomon, so if could…" Bearmon started to trail off as he noticed the surprised looks on his audience's faces.

"Who's your village chief?" The group asked in union.

"Leomon…" Bearmon replied taking a few steps back in surprise from the wide eyed team. The moment he gave his answer the group pulled together and began whispering to each other.

"Do you think it's our Leomon?"

"Can it really be?"

"Don't forget the Digital Worlds changed so much… It might not be…"

They whispered amongst themselves before reaching a consensus that they have to wait and see, before settling down for the night, while Bearmon set about getting them their supplies which he guaranteed by morning. In the remaining hours of daylight they recounted their different journeys while the sun set over the desert allowing the cool night air to wash into the village and the moon to bath the sands in its soft glow.

"It's off to Green Haven in the morning, huh?" Biyomon mused as she stared off at the distant mountains, thinking about what possibilities awaited them.

"Yeah, maybe we'll find some of the others there as well since we're kind of on a roll." Agumon stated before pouring another plate of food into is awaiting jaws.

"Agumon we've only found one member, Tentomon, in the last ten villages we checked. So I really don't think that counts as us being on a roll." Gadumon noted after setting down an empty plate of food.

"Okay… So it's the start of our roll, which means we'll find someone in the next village." Agumon retorted in his own logic.

"How did you come to that…?" Gabumon asked, but quieted down when he realized that it was most likely Agumons way of trying to raise the group's morale.

"I have to know… Do you think that it's really our Leomon that's the village chief here?" Patamon asked of the group as he rolled on to his back and exhaled a full breath.

"That's a really good question Patamon…" Biyomon answered first. "Becoming a brave village chief does fit with Leomons personality, so it isn't much of a stretch."

"And since the Digital World was reborn after the incident with Lucemon he could be back." Tentomon noted.

"We can only hope it is." Agumon concluded before silence once again filled the room.

"It's probably best if we get some sleep now, it's back to the scorching desert in the morning." Palmon yawned before staking out a corner of the room for herself. And with that suggestion the members of the group each found their own little spots and bedded down for the night, because a long couple of days crossing the hot desert for the forest in the distance awaited them once the sun rose again.

* * *

Like it had the many nights before the cloaked figure was surveying the Dark Areas border sections in search of something, what it could be no one knows, maybe even the cloaked figure doesn't know. Tonight they have left behind the empty valley from the night before and now stand at the rim of a deep chasm carved into the dark earth. At the deepest parts of the pit pale red lights moved about in search of their own target.

"It would seem that they haven't found it either…" The figure pondered as they watched the red lights move about below. "Considering how far they've dug without finding it most likely means it's not in this sector. I'll have to move onto the next one…" It added before turning its eyes skyward. There in the sky were the familiar growing black specks coming his way.

"On time again I see…" The figure laughed before turning tail towards the border.

Another day has passed, bringing all those involved in his story one step closer to the truth.

* * *

To be continued…


	10. A New Challenge… High School

**Chapter 10**

**A New Challenge… High School**

*BUZZZZZZ*

Takuya's alarm clock rang out in the room, calling for the occupant of the bed to rise. With an tired swing of his arm he brought his hand down on loud device, silencing it before he rolled over on his stomach in hopes of going back to sleep. However, his hope would quickly be dashed by a small voice.

"Aren't you supposed to get up when that goes off?" Gatomon noted with a tone that even while half asleep Takuya understood meant he should listen.

"I guess…" He answered as if he had been caught doing something wrong.

With that he lifted his legs over the side of the bed, sending Gatomon jumping out of the way, and planted them on the wood floor of his room. With a tired yawn he looked down at his wrinkled clothes from the night before, which got him thinking about where he had stored his new school clothes.

"Now where did I put those clothes…" Takuya yawned, pushing himself up off of the bed and looking about the room for possible locations.

"I don't know much about the human world, but wouldn't your closet be a good place to start." Gatomon commented while she stretched out her body in preparation for the day.

"I don't remember hanging it up… but my mother might have..." He considered, then walked over to the door of his closet and pulled it open. Inside were a wide assortment of nice shirts, jackets, and other clothes that were to nice to go in his dresser. On the far right end he found a cleared out section of the rack that had five hangers from which five similar ensembles hung. "Good old mom." He laughed before quickly twitching and looking about when he realized he had called her old; that was one word that was off limits to him when describing her.

He then reached inside and pulled down one of the outfits and tossed it on the bed, before heading out of the room and into the bathroom to take a shower. He returned about ten minutes later in only a towel and prepared to get dressed for school. He gripped the towel and began to pull it from around his waist, until he became aware that unlike all other mornings, he hadn't woken up alone. He stopped his motion and turned to look at Gatomon who eyed him with an uneasy look, unsure of what he was doing at the moment. Looking at her, Takuya couldn't figure out whether she didn't understand the relationship between humans and clothes, or, since she was a digimon, she didn't care.

"Uhh, could you possible leave for a little bit…" Takuya asked pulling the towel tighter around himself in embarrassment.

"Sure, but where should I go considering you told me remain in your room so no one in your family would see me?" Gatomon inquired.

"None of them actually seem to be home right now, so you could use this time to look around the house. And once I'm done changing I'll make us some breakfast." Takuya noted.

"I'll look for some good places to hide while I'm at it. You never know when I might need them." Gatomon stated as she slinked out of the room and began looking around the house with great interest.

With Gatomon gone Takuya got dressed as fast as he could. When he was done he looked himself over in the mirror. Zoe had been right; their new high school uniforms looked pretty good. It consisted of a pair of nice looking black pants and a white long sleeve button-down shirt, which Takuya had rolled up the sleeves to just over the elbows. There was also a thin black jacket meant for the colder seasons, but considering it still felt like summer he slipped it back on the hanger, before putting back in the closet.

"Not bad." Takuya commented to himself before eyeing the last piece of his uniform which was still lying on the desk next to him. Reaching over the desk he picked up the thin red tie and twisted it around in his hands before throwing it over his neck and walking over to his nightstand. There he picked up his D-tector and cell phone, and slipped them into his pockets. Then he took the red belt with the DAT-X attached to it and set it around his waist like he always did, before grabbing his backpack and heading out of his room, pulling the door shut behind him.

In a few seconds his way downstairs where he found Gatomon exploring the top of the china cabinet, most likely think about whether it would be a good hiding spot or not.

"You hungry for anything specific?" Takuya asked throwing his backpack down on the couch and going into the kitchen.

"Some fish would be nice." The white feline answered with an excited tone before jumping down from the cabinet to the dining room table, and then to the back of one of the chairs where she watched Takuya work in the kitchen. After some time the two of them finished a nice breakfast, and quickly found themselves faced a new decision.

"So… do you want to hang around here all day, or, come to school with me?" Takuya questioned the small digimon, wondering what she preferred to do with her day.

"My orders are to stay close to you, so I'll go to school." Gatomon answered as she twisted the silver chain the hung around her neck in her right hand. Between her claws she rolled a small white oval shaped charm that hung from the chain.

"I've been meaning to ask, what is that?" Takuya asked pointing at the charm in Gatomons hand.

"It's something Lady Ophanimon gave me before I left called a digi-egg. It's what allows me to armor digivolve to Nefertimon." Gatomon answered as she held the bobble up to the light before releasing it and joining Takuya on the couch.

"I've never heard of that kind of digivolution, but it sounds interesting." Takuya commented before turning his thoughts in a different direction. "So how do you want to do this? You can't just walk along with me out in the open, and considering the distance to school I don't think you can remain out of sight the whole way." He noted as he pondered the question.

"Well I have an idea… but I don't think I'm going to like it." Gatomon stated as she poked the red backpack resting on the couch.

* * *

"That only took all night." Tai yawned as he pulled the car into the driveway and turned the key into the off position.

"It couldn't be helped. There was a lot we had to discuss last night." Sora replied pushing her door open and stepping out of the car. "I just hope Takuya managed to get ready in time. It wouldn't surprise me if he just turned off his alarm and went back to sleep." She added with a hint of concern as she looked the house up and down for any sign that her son was awake.

"I'm sure he managed to get up on time today considering it's his first day of high school." Tai reassured the woman with a small laugh.

"What I'm considering is the fact that he's your son, so that doesn't exactly inspire confidence in his ability to wake up on time." Sora shot back with a teasing smile, while Tai gave her a mock hurt look before closing the door and turning towards the house.

"Tai, I've been wondering something ever since last night." Sora said with a distant tone. "When you were watching that fight Izzy showed us, what did you feel?" She questioned as they stopped just outside the front door. For a moment Tai looked up into the sky and thought to himself before pulling his hand off of the doorknob and looking his wife in the eyes.

"It was strange, but I could have swore I felt…!" Tai began to answer but stopped when the front door was suddenly wrenched open, making the two adults jump in surprise of having their moment interrupted.

"Mom! Dad!" Takuya exclaimed as he jerked to a stop so that he didn't crash into either of them.

"Morning, son. See, I told you he would get up on his own." Tai stated turning back to his wife.

"I see that. And good morning son." Sora beamed at him as she looked him up and down in his new clothes. Then with a twitch of her brow she locked on to the red tie hanging untied around his neck.

"Morning, I already had breakfast and I don't know where Shinya is, but I have to get going if I'm going to meet up with the others on time." Takuya quickly stated as he uneasily, but with a great measure of care, readjusted his backpack which was slung over his right shoulder and squeezed past his parents.

"He's actually at your aunts so you can pick him up on your way to meet your friends." Tai filled in Takuya who gave a nod that he had heard.

"Not so fast." Sora said with a cold tone, freezing Takuya in his steps. She then reached out and arm and took hold of his right shoulder. Instantly Takuya was gripped with the fear that somehow she knew something was in his backpack that didn't belong. He closed his eyes as his mind raced to find an answer to how he was going to deal with her looking in his bag.

"You can't go with your tie undone like this." Sora stated. Opening his eyes he found her standing before him with both ends of his tie in her hands. "I swear if I wasn't around you and your father would be a complete mess." She added as she twisted, folded, and looped the red tie until it was bound in a proper loop.

"You've got a point mom; we'd be lost without you." He smiled with a crooked smile he could have only inherited from Tai. With a smile she put her thumb behind the knot and gripped the end of the tie with the other before sliding the knot up to Takuya's neck and releasing the fabric with a satisfied smile. "Thanks again!" Takuya thanked her before making his way to school once more, very glad she hadn't checked his backpack. Behind him the two parents watched him leave with proud smiles.

"That uniforms a lot better than the one we had to wear. I don't miss that horrible green thing in any way." Tai noted with a laugh as Takuya disappeared behind a corner. However, Sora didn't answer, she just stared off into the distance deep in thought.

"Where does the time go, Tai. It feels like it was just yesterday that we were walking him to his first day of Kindergarten." Sora sighed, her thoughts quickly returning to the past. They were filled with images of her and Tai walking down a sidewalk, each of them holding one of Takuya's hands, as the young boy would every so often lift up his feet and swing a little bit in the air.

"I know…" Tai simply answered with a reflective tone as he wrapped his arms around his wife from behind and hugged her, before kissing the top of her head.

* * *

After some time Takuya could see the mansion in the distance. Behind him Tommy and Shinya were trailing by a few feet and talking about some movie or video game they had watched last night. Looking at the mansion Takuya wasn't really thinking anything, but in some way he felt a bit anxious as he approached. In just a few steps the end of the mansions driveway came into view and Takuya felt his heart skip a beat.

There at the end of the driveway was Zoe in her new high school uniform. The outfit started with a short sleeve white dress shirt, covered by a dark blue button down cloth vest. The plaid skirt was a mixture of light blue, black, and white that stopped a few inches short of the knees. Slightly saggy white sock went halfway up to the knee and sank into a pair of white tennis shoes, and a red ribbon was tied around the neck. Again Zoe had been right, the uniform was very cute, but on Zoe it was only more so. The dark colors only aided to brighten her shiny gold hair, fair skin, and green eyes.

"Hey Zoe!" Tommy and Shinya called out to the girl who returned the sentiment with a bright smile and a wave. Takuya on the other hand just continued to walk forward while staring at her, his mind having gone blank.

"Morning you guy." Zoe beamed when the three of them finally reached her. "See, I told you these uniforms were good." She smiled up at Takuya.

"What!" Takuya stuttered, afraid that Zoe had caught him staring.

"What, you don't like it?" Zoe questioned with a sad tone as she swished back and forth giving him a better view of the whole outfit.

"It looks really good on you Zoe." Takuya said with a slight laugh. He had picked up on the sad tone in Zoe's voice, and not wanting her to feel down he forcefully recovered himself enough to boost her spirits with an answer.

"Thank you, Takuya." Zoe smiled happily. "Yours looks good on you too. It makes you seem more mature." She added taking hold of the tie and straightening it a bit. The two had sunken into a personal moment, but were quickly pulled out of it by a bright flash.

"That was so perfect!" Mimi squealed happily as she lowered the camera from in front of her eyes.

"Mom!" Zoe whined as she and her mother enter into a small argument about what kind of photos she was taking. Mimi just playfully laughed as her daughter complained about the picture she had just taken with a deep blush spread across her face.

"Okay, now all of you stand together." Mimi ordered, ignoring her daughter's last complaint, and motioned for the four too move closer together. With a small laugh they complied and allowed the women to click a few pictures before heading off to meet up the others.

* * *

"Takuya, I've been meaning to ask, what's with your backpack?" Koji asked turning the attention of the remaining members of the group to Takuya. After meeting up with the rest of the group and dropping Tommy and Shinya off at the local middle school it was down to Takuya, Zoe, Koji, Koichi, and JP.

"What do you mean?" Takuya pondered for a moment, forgetting why it had a bit of extra weight that day.

"I could swear it's moved a few times." Koji noted, making everyone focus on the bag to see if they could see what Koji saw.

"Oh, that." Takuya laughed as he readjusted it on his back and looked about the alleyway they were walking along. When he didn't see anyone around he spoke again, but to no one in the group. "The coast is clear for now." In the next second Takuya's bag unzipped itself and two pointed ears poked out, quickly followed by a head of white fur.

"That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be… almost familiar in a way…" She laughed as she stretched her body while remaining as concealed as she could in the pack. Looking around she was greeted by the surprised faces of Koji, Koichi, and JP; Zoe had already be introduced to her when Lady Ophanimon had sent her back with the two of them. "Hello…" Gatomon tried her best to show a bow to the group from within the bag.

"Hello…" The three answered back without thinking. While they had a lot of contact with digimon on a daily bases, they never considered the idea of carrying one around like Takuya was. They normally spent their time either destroying Rifted ones, or deporting, as they called it, ones that had become lost in the human world.

"Takuya." Koji noted, easily recovering from the shock.

"Yeah." Takuya answered back as if he didn't expect any follow up questions.

"I don't even know why I have to ask you to explain… but, why is there a digimon in your backpack?" Koji asked with a sigh.

"Well…" Takuya began to explain before Zoe answered for him.

"Since Takuya was the one who kept getting all those strange calls, Lady Ophanimon decided it was best if he had someone watching his back in case the calls turned into something else." Zoe clarified as Gatomon nodded along in agreement. "So she sent Gatomon here back with us yesterday to work with us and keep an eye on Takuya."

"You know, the way you keep bringing up the whole 'keep an eye on Takuya' part, makes it sound like I need a babysitter." Takuya agitatedly sighed as glared at the group.

"She's also going to help us out with the Rifted from time to time, mainly with the ones that pop up while were in class." Zoe continued as if she hadn't heard Takuya, making him feel slightly depressed.

"Makes sense, and hopefully she can keep Takuya from doing anything stupid. But does this mean that Lady Ophanimon thinks something's going on too?" Koji asked, quickly trying to get past the first part of his comment before Takuya could start an argument with him, which Takuya was fully prepared to do.

"My Lady has noticed some strange happenings lately, but the rifts and Rifted Digimon have kept all three of the rulers busy with searching for causes and protecting their dominions. I think My Lady fears that something is taking advantage of the situation, and could be moving in the shadows." Gatomon answered, giving her own perspective of the talk between Lady Ophanimon, Takuya, and Zoe.

"Yeah, pretty much what she said." Takuya agreed with a slight nod.

"What about those phone calls you were getting...?" Koichi asked, turning the conversation to the start of everything.

"She's actually pretty confused by them. According to her, I shouldn't be able to get any phone calls from sources outside of those in my phone registry, but despite that, there is a record of that numbers in my phones memory twice." Takuya answered, remembering how surprised Lady Ophanimon had been by her discovery.

"Did she have any idea where they could have been coming from?" Koji inquired, making sure he was getting all the facts.

"She tried to track the number, but she kept running into a powerful firewall each time that ended the search." Zoe answered.

"Yeah, eventually she had to give up because each time she tried she was actually making less and less progress, she said it might have been learning from her attempts." Takuya added, not all too sure what all that meant though.

"A firewall that even Lady Ophanimon couldn't breach… that must be one impressive program. I mean she's hacked and changed data in the most secure locations around the world, even government and military computers, so how could someone on a phone block her to the point of giving up…" Koji pondered aloud.

"She said during her years of hacking and maintaining the digital network she had run into a few others better than her, unfortunately she has no idea who they are, or if any of them would have a reason to contact Takuya, let alone know how to." Zoe concluded, before looking to Takuya, as if trying to figure out why it was only him who was being contacted.

"But why are they only contacting Takuya? What can he do with the call that the rest of us can't?" JP asked what Zoe and the others had been thinking, but decided to remain quiet about. They had chosen to remain quiet, not out of fear of hurting Takuya's feelings, but out of concern of putting extra stress on Takuya. They could see that he had already put a lot of thought into why the phone calls were coming, and he didn't need the extra weight of why it was only him who was getting them. They knew if he got fixated on it he would begin to feel like he was failing, as it he had to do something but didn't know what.

"JP!" Zoe hissed, making JP jump back slightly.

"I wonder that too…" Takuya spoke in a monotone voice.

"Takuya, it's not like it's only you that has to fa…" She turned to comfort Takuya but stop halfway when he began to smile.

"Maybe it's because I'm the leader!" Takuya laughed with a big crooked grin as he rubbed the back of his head. The line earned him some looks of shock and agitation, as the group realized they had been stressing over something Takuya so easily brushed off.

"Man, I can't believe you sometimes…" Koji tiredly laughed before brushing past Takuya, and heading back to the road to school, followed by the others except for Takuya and Zoe. Zoe remained behind for a few seconds looking Takuya up and down as he maintain his big smile, before she went to join the others.

"Come on guys! I thought it was a pretty good reason." Takuya yelled after them, as he zipped up his backpack once more, being careful that he didn't get any of Gatomons fur stuck in the line. Then, he jogged after the others… without his carefree smile.

* * *

After five more minutes of walking the five teenagers found themselves standing outside of their new school, well for four of them it was new, JP had been attending for a year now.

The school had the appearance of an old red brick and mortar structure on the outside, but on the inside it had been redone in a modern style. Everything was integrated with the most recent technology and built so that the environment could aid in student learning. Blackboards had been replace with high resolution touch screens and tied to teachers computers, while students were provided with electric notepads at their desks. Even in the halls announcement and school videos played on digital bulletin boards scattered about the schools hallways. These were all the signs of the modern age they were learning and growing up in, quite different from the days of simple computer labs and whiteboards they're parents grew up with. It was amazing how much everything had changed over the last twenty-five years.

"So I guess I should show you guys around then. I know all the best places to hangout, eat lunch, and avoid teachers." JP announced, taking on the self-appointed role of tour guide.

"How about adding in some of the labs, libraries, and student services to that little tour JP. Remember some of us aren't scholastic slackers like you and Takuya." Koji added sarcastically.

"Hey! I'm sorry that we're not all shut-ins, and have better things to do then study all the time. But I for one prefer to enjoy my youth, and not become old at fifteen." Takuya retorted.

"How did you get into this school? I'm starting to have second thoughts about its claim to be the best high school in the prefecture." Koji verbally swung back was a superior smile.

"Shut up. You know I totally rocked those exams, and anyways they were probably looking for some students with personalities to counterbalance those with none. That way I can equal you out. School would just be so dead with a bunch of moping bookworms like you walking around." Takuya shot back.

"Where's your mothers camera when we need it?" Koichi offhandedly commented to Zoe.

"Huh?" Zoe questioned without taking her eyes off of the two as they continued to exchange heated words.

"This is another important event. Takuya and Koji's first, of many to come, argument in high school." Koichi laughed as he tried to ignore the strange looks the group was getting. Takuya and Koji would have to choose the front gate to start their fight.

"Come on guys! We don't have that long to look around the school before we have to assemble in the gym for the principles introduction, and get our schedule of classes." JP stated as he anxiously held up his watch, tapping the screen with his index finger like they should have been able to read it from where they were standing.

"Coming!" Zoe chirped as Koichi and her left Takuya and Koji behind.

"I'm tired of this… You coming?" Koji asked as he walked away from Takuya, waving off the incident.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming. But first I have to discuss a few things with Gatomon, so go on ahead and make sure they don't leave us behind." Takuya answered, pointing towards the three friends that had left them behind as they crossed through the front door of the school.

"Right, but make it quick, I want some time to check out the student services center before it gets crowded after the introduction ceremony." Koji calmly stated while he continued to walk away. If you listened carefully to his voice you could hear a somewhat happier and relaxed tone to his voice then he had when walking to school. After unloading all his stress and anxiety in his argument Takuya, he felt much better, and the same thing could be said for Takuya. Their friendly clashes had long since become the perfect means by which to vent themselves, a personal form of stress management was what it was.

"Don't worry, it shouldn't take that long. I only have to tell her some things about school and staying out of sight." Takuya waved after Koji.

"Okay, as you heard Gatomon, before we go in you and I have some things to discuss." Takuya whispered to his backpack, trying his best not to look crazy. "First thing, you need to…"

*PING* *PING*

"Another alarm!" The four teenagers standing under the doorway of the school stated in unison. They quickly extracted their phones and flipped them open, and were greeted by the all too familiar map and beacon.

*BRRIINNGGGG*

The school bell suddenly blared overhead.

"Dammit!" Koji cursed turning his head back to the schools gate as an old pair of metal gates locked into place and a teacher took a position in front of them, while others ushered students still outside into the school.

"Well, it looks like Takuya's going to be late for his first day… Not really the way you want to start the school year…" Koichi noted as he looked down at the small symbol of flame moving away from the school.

"Yeah…" The others agreed, feeling bad for their friend, but kind of glad it wasn't them.

* * *

To be continued…

PS. I have a poll up on my profile (right up in the top bar) that I would appreciate if people would stop by and answer. It asks you to pick eight characters from the first four seasons that you would like to see in a new story. The story won't get published for a long time, but writing new stories helps me get over writers block, so help me defrag by going to my profile and picking your eight choices, and help me build my character cast. Help me fight writers block!


	11. Problems on the First Day

**Chapter 11**

**Problems on the First Day**

"Damn, that took longer than I thought it would… I so missed the opening ceremony, and I have no chance of making it in time for whatever's next…" Takuya whined as he stood over the dissolving remains of a Rifted Apemon.

"Is that a bad thing?" Gatomon asked from his shoulder.

Turning to look the feline digimon in the eyes, Takuya sighed before answering. "Only if you don't want the teachers to ride you the whole year…"

"Sounds bad." Gatomon flatly stated moments before Takuya took off running for the school.

Ten minutes later he arrived outside of the closed school gates and quickly began looking for a way into the school. Through the gate he could see a member of the teaching faculty standing in the middle of the grounds, halfway between the gate and the building entrance.

"I really don't need to be chewed out by the late monitor on the first day…" Takuya sighed as he leaned against the back of the wall to hide himself from the scanning eyes of the patrolling teacher.

"What're you going to do?" Gatomon questioned, peeking her head out of the bag.

"It's cool… I've learned a few tricks about getting around guards." Takuya smiled as he leaned back over and peered through the gate openings, scanning the grounds for a way past the gate guard.

"How'd you learn to do that?" She inquired with a suspicious tone.

"A mixture of a few things…" He replied with an awkward laugh.

"Mixture of what things exactly?" Gatomon asked, again with the suspicious tone.

"Having to get to Rift openings in secure areas…" Takuya explained without taking his eyes off of the school. "…and being late for school quite a few times before…" He said the last part in a mumble.

"See it's that last part that doesn't make me feel sorry for you." Gatomon laughed before ducking her head back inside the bag which Takuya secured tightly against his back in preparation for what he was about to do next.

Moving into one of the alleyways around the side of the school Takuya scanned the top of the nine foot wall; then, when he was satisfied with his choice he began moving as far back from the wall as he could, tapping the wall of the building next door with his foot before giving it a kick and running straight at the stone wall, then jumped at the ledge, grabbing it with his right arm and pulling himself up so he could look over the top.

"It looks like they don't expect anyone to try and come in this way. Or that someone would be able to jump a nine foot high stone wall." Takuya said to himself after checking to see that the coast was clear, and finding no patrolling teachers on the other side. Then, with one swift motion Takuya slipped over the top and down the wall to the school grounds. Once his feet hit the ground he quickly ran across the grounds, keeping low to the ground, and pressing himself up against the school wall. Quietly he crept along the walls looking for anyway into the school that wasn't being guarded.

"There we go." Takuya smiled when he spotted a service door that had been left open a crack. Taking advantage of the mistake he slowly opened the door and peered inside.

Inside he found a dark room stacked with boxes on each side and larger objects covered in dusty sheets. Further inside he could see a much larger room with bright lights and wooden floors, sectioned off by red velvet curtain. It appeared that he had found the side exit of the school auditorium.

Smiling as he continued to look for any sign of a teacher Takuya commented on his own luck. "At least something seems to be going my way. Now all I have to do is…"

Before Takuya could finish his thought a voice came booming from a distance behind him. "Hey! What are you doing? Where did you come from? What's your name?" The female voice inquired.

The voice made Takuya twitch in the doorframe, but he didn't dare turn around and face the voice. From where he was he guessed that the only part of him that was visible was his lower half and backpack. So making his decision he stepped inside and pulled the door shut, hearing the lock click into place; while outside the female teacher stared at the closed door with a look of utter shock.

"Well… I hope I don't run into whoever that was…" Takuya sighed to himself as he made his way down the storage corridor and out onto the stage.

"The tryouts haven't started yet!" A voice bellowed from the back of the auditorium, making Takuya jump in surprise.

He quickly turned to the side and found himself staring out into a small crowded of students and a few teachers. Looking past them he could see an older woman dressed in black at the back of the theater, looking him up and down. She was most likely the woman who had just called out to him.

"I… Yeah, sorry…" Takuya embarrassingly laughed as he rubbed the back of his neck while looking of a way off the stage.

Not wanting to spend the extra time in the spotlight Takuya decided not to take the stairs on either side, and instead to just quickly walk straight forward and jump off the middle of the stage. He then tried his best not to draw any more attention to himself as he quickly hurried by the group of students, who by the looks of them must have been his seniors. He wasn't embarrassed by what had happened on stage anymore, he wasn't the type to dwell on embarrassment, he would just laugh it off and quickly forget, but what he was doing was hoping to avoid questions as to where he had come from.

"Did you see that babe at the opening ceremony?" A male voice from Takuya's side asked another student.

"You mean the one with the blond hair you couldn't take your eyes off of? But you have a point; she's definitely at the top of my list this year." The other boy annoyingly laughed with an undeserved sense of self satisfaction. Something about this conversation pissed Takuya off just by hearing it, and brought him to a stop.

"And she's a freshman, so easy pickings for us seniors." A third boy laughed. With those words Takuya felt even more anger arise within him, making him glare at the three older boys off to his side.

His burning stare wasn't something someone could ignore, and soon the three older boys felt it bearing down on them. When they did they turned and spotted an agitated Takuya giving them an intimidating glare; which if any of them had been alone would have given them the foresight to avoid making him any angrier. However, since they were in a group, their larger numbers gave them a false confidence which made them antagonize the problem.

"What're you looking at freshman!" The tallest of the three boys yelled out to him from across the row of chairs. The other two boys did their best to puff out their chests and act intimidating; which probably would have worked on anyone else but a Legendary Warrior.

"Not much." Takuya flatly stated with a sly smile, making the three's eyes widen in shock. Never had anyone talked back to them like he was now. Faced with this new situation the three, still relying on their numbers, stood up and acted as if they were trying to grow taller in hopes of instilling some primal fear into Takuya.

For Takuya this wasn't a new situation. When he and Koji had entered middle school they were often the target of bullies and wannabe tough guys, something about the way they acted tended to attract this type of person to them. Their first few weeks of middle school had been filled with fights after school and idle threats. But after those first few weeks the fights stopped; mainly because he and Koji had put down every bully and hoodlum in the school, making them too afraid to raise a hand against anyone anymore. Around the school the two of them were though as the two unofficial kings of the school and fighting, but they didn't really care for the titles. But this was a new school, and a whole new roster of jerks and idiots to deal with.

"What was that!" One of the other boys stuttered, an insult in return not being what he had expected after his friends taunt; especially one that came so coolly and without fear.

"You heard me loser." Takuya stated, not really sure as to why he felt like starting something with the three boys. Just something about their discussion got his blood boiling.

"I'll!" The biggest one said lunging forward a step in a feeble attempt to scare Takuya. When he just saw Takuya give him a smirk he quickly took an equal step back after becoming very unsure of himself.

His smirk getting a little bigger Takuya took a step toward them, ready to chase them off, or beat them down; whichever it came down to. However, he wouldn't get the chance to, because just as he was about to find out the guys reaction a voice called out to him which quickly drained the fight out of him.

"Takuya, there you are." Zoe's sweet voice called to him as she made her way down the aisle to him. "It's about time you made it." She chirped, wrapping her arms around his and pulling him towards the back of the theater.

As Zoe pulled Takuya away he angrily glared at the three older boys, finally realizing why the discussion he had walked in on had pissed him off. The answer was obvious by the way the three were staring at Zoe. They were definitely checking her out, while at the same time giving Takuya hateful glances. It seemed that they though he was in their way now after seeing Zoe snuggling up to him; and one thing Takuya was sure of was that he was going to be putting himself in their way as much as he possibly could.

"Hey, Zoe. Yeah, it took me more time to get there and wait for it to appear, then it took me to take it down." Takuya commented looking away from the boys and back to Zoe who he continued to allow to guided him by the arm.

"It's good that you're okay, but if you had gotten back sooner you wouldn't have missed the clubs registration time." Zoe noted with a tone that verged on lecturing.

"Ah well, it's just…? Wait! What? What do you mean I missed the clubs registration! I thought that wasn't until next week?" Takuya moaned in shock.

"In middle school it was during the second week. In high school it's after the opening ceremony for freshman." Zoe noted looking up into Takuya's face. "Didn't you read the flyer we got last week during the freshman meet and greet?"

"What flyer?" Takuya questioned with a confused and worried look.

"Be aware that club registration for freshman will be held on the first day of orientation, after the opening ceremony. Take the weekend to consider the over one-hundred clubs available at school, so that you will be ready to sign up. Be careful, spots fill up quick." Gatomons voice announced from within Takuya's backpack.

"What?" Takuya questioned, lowing the backpack and unzipping it to find Gatomon holding the said flyer in her hand, which she had been reading off.

"I don't exactly know what this means, but I think it's bad for you…" Gatomon noted as she looked up at Takuya from within the bag.

"Good guess. It means I'll have to sign up for whatever's left, and trust me, all the cool stuff is never left…" Takuya moaned in reply, slumping over in an onset of depression.

"Relax, Takuya." Zoe playfully punched him in the shoulder. "We won't leave you hanging like that, especially when it wasn't your fault."

"Really!" Takuya perked up, imagining what his friends might have done of him to save him from being forced into some really boring club.

"Yeah, we forged your name a little and signed you up for some clubs." Zoe smiled, but her honest smile quickly shifted to a sly one. However, Takuya didn't notice, he was preoccupied with hoping that they had at least signed him up for soccer club and tryouts.

"Which one… Wait, clubs? As in more than one?" Takuya questioned, wondering if he had heard Zoe right.

"Yep, we picked a few that we thought you might like… and a few we thought we might like to see you in." Zoe said the last line in a whisper to herself.

"Okay… which ones?" Takuya cautiously asked, feeling somewhat uneasy about his prospects.

"Well, Koichi signed you up for soccer club and tryouts since he was signing up too. I think Koji said something about signing up as well." Zoe began, making Takuya jump in joy at his first club. "JP signed you up for cooking with him." Seeing Takuya flinch and begin to protest Zoe quickly shut him down with, "Trust me Takuya, you need it. And anyways it's held during the school day so it's better than study hall."

"Fine…" Takuya sighed, seeing Zoe's points.

"Koji signed you up for the leadership committee and student council." Zoe continued, tapping the tops of two fingers as she counted them off in her head.

"Seriously! Why would he do that?" Takuya moaned loudly, still trying to get over the shock of it.

"Maybe he thinks your ability to talk big will do you well in politics." Zoe teased making Takuya slump over even more and release a defeated sigh. "Or maybe he thinks since you've been such a good leader to us over the years that you might do pretty well in them." She added, hoping to perk Takuya up. When he straightened back out and smiled at her she felt her plan had worked.

"Is that it…?" Takuya uneasily questioned, fearing that there might be more.

"Just my choice is left." Zoe smiled slyly in return.

"And that is?" Takuya slowly questioned, not knowing what to expect.

"Well, here silly." Zoe laughed. "I signed you up for drama club with me. We'll be in plays and stuff together." Zoe beamed happily, while Takuya fought off a mild panic attack. He wasn't the type to have problems with public speaking, he was too confident for that; however, he did have a problem with acting on stage.

"And if a romantic play should happen to come up, we could both tryout for the leads…" Zoe added, bowing her head to hide the blush that had spread across her face, and nervously swishing back and forth. Unfortunately, Takuya was too preoccupied with the earlier news to hear the last part, or notice her change in behavior.

"This should go over well considering I just embarrassed myself on stage no more than five minutes ago." Takuya mused. _"It's going to be one busy year…"_ he added with a mental sigh.

Takuya spent the rest of the morning with Zoe in the theater, while Gatomon slinked around in the stage rafters looking of air ducts and other passages that would allow her to move invisibly around the school during the day. Zoe filled Takuya in on what happened during the opening ceremony, apparently Koji had been named first student since he come into the school with the highest test scores; but that announcement didn't surprise Takuya. He just knew that Koji was going to be lording it over him for the rest of the year. She gave Takuya his class schedule, which they had signed his name for and picked up for him, as well as his club schedule. They spent some time comparing schedules and seeing how many classes they had together. They had managed to end up together for four out of their seven classes. Takuya made a mental note to look over the others schedules as well to see if he was with them in any classes; he didn't like the idea of not having at least one of them around to make class more interesting.

Eventually the drama club meeting came to an end when the bell rang, dismissing the children to go home since it was a half day due to it only being the opening ceremony.

* * *

"Good, at least none of us are alone in one of our classes. Well, except for you JP. But that's to be expected since you're a year older than us." Zoe smiled as she held five schedules in her hand, using her multi-tasking skills to quickly read over them.

"It's not that surprising since we all for the most part signed up for the same classes for exactly that reason." Koji commented with a calm tone, which hid the fact that he was happy to have no classes alone, just like the others were.

"Yeah, but it still pretty amazing that we managed to end up together considering how many different classes and times there are. We pretty much lucked out no matter how you look at it." Takuya noted, giving Koji a look with a raised eyebrow.

"I haven't been surprised by anything since you passed the entrance exam." Koji slyly replied, trying to disguise the fact that Takuya had actually raised a good point about their chances of ending up together in so many of their classes.

"Haha… ha… funny." Takuya laughed unenthusiastically at Koji's comment.

"But at least…" JP began to add before a strange sound cut him off in midsentence. It was a strange melody with a digital sound to it; a sound that could only come from some form of electronic equipment.

"What the hell is that?" Koji questioned looking about for the source of the noise. He wasn't the only one; the others were also trying to locate the origin. Everyone was looking about, everyone except for Takuya that was. He was calming staring at his jacket pocket before reaching in and removing his cell phone from it.

Looking at the device in his hand Takuya's eyes instantly landed on the strange, but familiar, sequence of numbers, letters, and symbols displayed in the caller ID. For a moment he contemplated as what to do, but eventually the intense drive to answer got the better of him and he slid his thumb to the release button.

"Takuya, what's up with the weird ringtone?" JP questioned as he leaned over to look at the phone, stopping Takuya for opening it.

"I think your phones broken Takuya. That number in the display has to be an error." Koichi noted leaning over to look at the phone as well.

"It's not broken, it's them…" Takuya replied in a distant voice without lifting his eyes from the phone in his hand.

"Them?" JP questioned with a curious look.

"You mean it's the same whatever who's been trying to contact you for the last month?" Koji asked with a concerned tone, moving to Takuya's side, nudging JP out of the way.

"Yeah…" Takuya answered before hitting the release button and the phone sprang open, connecting the call. "Hello…?" He inquisitively said into the phone, unsure of the response he would get. Around Takuya the others went absolutely quiet, holding even their breath as they leaned in trying to put their ears as close to the ear piece as possible, hoping to hear the mystery caller for the first time.

For a good minute the only sound coming over the phone was a low crackle and soft breaths, telling Takuya that there was someone on the other end. "Could you please talk to me?" Takuya requested in a strangely gentle voice. But the only response to his request was a shifting rattle that came over the phone, as if whoever was on the other end had been surprised by his words.

Giving no further provocation Takuya waited in silence for a response, which eventually came in time. "Please…" The voice crackled in. The single word sent a chill coursing down the backs of the others, except for Takuya. The word only made him want to hear more. "…be careful…" The voice finished with after a period of silence before the line went dead and the lights on the phone went dark.

"Please be careful…?" Koichi repeated what he had heard to the group to see if they had all heard the same thing.

"Yeah… That was kind of creepy…" Zoe noted as she backed away a little and rubbed her arms in an attempt to rid herself of the chill that had come over her.

"It seems that way…" Koji commented before turning to Takuya who was still staring at the open phone in his hand. "But it doesn't seem to have bothered you Takuya."

Hearing his name used Takuya turned and looked at Koji. "He had a point Takuya. You almost seem comfortable with what you just heard." JP questioned of his friend.

"It's strange…" Takuya whispered, turning his focus back to the phone in his hand.

"What's strange?" Zoe asked, her voice filled with concern as she leaned in so she could look up into Takuya's down cast eyes.

"Every time I hear that voice it seems more and more familiar to me… Almost like it's something I've forgotten…" Takuya noted in a distant voice as he locked eyes with Zoe who was becoming more concerned by his strange predicament and behavior.

"Did it seem familiar to anyone else?" Koichi questioned, hoping to learn more about the situation, but all he got were no's from the others. With no answers the group just stood there on the sidewalk, thinking and contemplating possible answers.

"That might be the reason." Koji suddenly commented; bring all the attention to him.

"What?" Zoe asked, confusion filling her voice.

"That feeling that Takuya's getting might be the reason why the calls are only coming to him." Koji explained in a serious voice. "Somehow Takuya, you and whoever, or whatever, is making those calls, might be linked in some way. Meaning you're probably the only one who can figure this out."

For a few moments Takuya stood there in silent contemplation before bowing his head and shaking it slowly from side to side. Around Takuya the others moved to comfort him before he let out a deep breath and stared at Koji, "So no pressure or anything, right?" he laughed before straightening out.

"This isn't funny, Takuya." Zoe demanded with an angry stomp of her foot.

"Your right Zoe, but I just have this feeling that whoever's making the calls isn't a threat. I just don't know how to explain how I know, but I just do." Takuya backed away slightly from the fuming Zoe before feeling safe enough to give her his crooked Kamiya grin.

"If you say so…" Zoe replied, giving up on the whole thing. However, the concern in her voice didn't fade as she spent the rest of the trip back to their homes staring at Takuya's back.

* * *

"Ahhh, it's good to be home. That felt like forever…" Takuya sighed happily as he let himself fall back into the couch. Once he was settled he set the backpack with Gatomon down next to him and unzipped it so the feline digimon could finally stretch after the long walk home.

"I don't know what you're complaining about. At least you didn't spend half the day in a small space being carried around by someone who could only have swung it about like he did by forgetting it had an occupant." Gatomon glared at Takuya.

"Sorry, but at least you found some good places around the school where you can spend time while I'm in class." Takuya commented as he picked up the television remote and powered on the television.

"That's not the poooiii… puuurrrrrr" Gatomon began to retaliate, but halfway through her words turned to a pleasant purring when Takuya began scratching the back of her ears. "That's cheating." Gatomon demanded before returning to her purring.

"True, but I could either continue, or stop, your choice." He teased with a playful smile as he watched the feline digimon melt into a furry ball on the couch.

"Don't stop…" She begged between long purrs. "I don't get how you found that spot so easily."

With a smile Takuya continued to pet Gatomon as he settled in to watch a movie before his family came home. As he stroked the cat digimon and barely paid attention to the movie his thoughts drifted back to the phone call and the strange feeling of familiarity.

Whatever was coming his and the other Legendary Warriors way, it was somehow connected more deeply with him than any of them. He could only contemplate the reasons, and above all, heed the warning he had received.

* * *

Somewhere in the Digital World, in a dark stone structure, a room filled with shadows that streaked across the floor and climb the walls with the changing position of the sun, sits. In the center of the room, on the cold stone floor, an open cell phone rests, it's display still showing the last number called; Takuya's number, with the words 'Call Ended' flashing beneath it. However, its user is nowhere to be seen, they are most likely hidden in the shadows of the room.

As the buzz of the phones receiver begins to die down with the light of the cell phone, another sound replaces it. It is far too low and soft to be distinguished, but it is there, and it is coming from the only other thing in the room besides from the quiet cell phone.

* * *

To be continued…


	12. A Day in the Digital World: Two

**Chapter 12**

**A Day in the Digital World: Two**

Partner Digimon group so far- Agumon, Biyomon, Patamon, Palmon, Gabumon, Tentomon

* * *

"I can see it. I think that's Green Haven up ahead," Patamon yelled down as he circled in the sky about the others.

"It's about time. It feels like we've been walking through this desert for a week," Palmon sighed tiredly.

"That's because it's been pretty close to a week, Palmon," Biyomon informed her friend. In fact they had left the village of Desert Fire five days ago, and were just now seeing the first signs of forest at the edge of the desert.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better or something?" Palmon inquired with an agitated glare.

* * *

Somewhere deep in a forest outside the border of the Dark Area rests a small concrete building surrounded by trees. On the outside some kind of green, brown, and black camouflage netting had been pulled over the surface helping the building hid in the dense forest. The small building only consists of two small rooms, one in front and one in back. In the room in front a small steel table with a black surface had been set against one of the walls, with two folding metal chairs pushed in under it. One chair showed signs that it had been used quite a bit, while the other was covered in a thick layer of dust that could only have built up after years of never being used or moved.

On the other side of the room a small refrigerator rested on a concrete counter beside a small sink and a dual burner camping stove. Above the counter a few iron pots and pans had been hung from the wall with hooks and a stack of dishes had been placed beside the sink. The pile consisted of two plates, two bowls, two cups, and two complete sets of eating utensils, knife, fork, and spoon. Like with the chairs at the table one set of each showed extensive use, while the other set appeared to be in pristine shape. But unlike the unused chair at the table the unused set or wares had been kept very clean.

Besides from a thick metal door leading to the outside and two florescent lights hanging from the ceiling, which were currently in the off position, that was all that could be found in the first room. It would seem that it was being solely used as a kitchen.

In the room beyond the kitchen there was even less to see. Against the right wall a thin futon with an indent down the middle and an old pillow at the top had been laid. It was nothing impressive; it looked like it had been taken from a fold up bed or cot. Beside the futon a slightly used gas lantern had been place beside a well used electric one. It appeared that the gas one was only kept around for emergencies, or had been replaced by the electric one, years ago.

On the other side of the room a steel desk was pushed up against the wall. On the table stacks of papers and bound files had been carefully piled on one side of the desk. In the middle of the desk a black metal laptop hummed quietly while it wasn't in use. At the remaining end of the desk a black picture frame had been placed face down on the desk so the picture within it was hidden from view. There was no more to the room or the building than that. It was simple… and lonely.

Outside the building the figure in the long brown cloak sat under the shade of a tree, staring at the open phone in their hand. The screen cast a dull blue light on the ground, but the bright light of the sun drowned it out. It would appear that they had been contemplating what to do for a while now, but had yet to reach any kind of decision. But with a sad sigh they closed the phone and set it down in the grass next to them before picking up a file of print outs and opened it to the first page.

* * *

"I don't remember seeing trees this big back during our days," Patamon commented as he glided around the large brown tree trunks, staring up at the canopy of branches and leaves high above them.

"They remind me of the redwoods Mimi told me about when we went to the Real World for the first time," Palmon noted while looking up at the tower trees. There had always been large forests in the Digital World, but somehow the forests they found now appeared to be very old despite the amount of time they presumed had passed in the world.

It was that simple comment that shifted the groups thoughts back to the Real World. Memories that seemed more like dreams than actual events after all the time that had gone by and the challenges they had faced since then. For a while afterwards they walked and flew along the old forest path lost in their thoughts.

"How much further to the village?" Patamon inquired, wanting the silence filled reminiscence to end as it began to become too painful.

"Bearmon said Green Haven was just a mile or two off from the forests edge, so we should be there soon," Tentomon replied in a tone that didn't hide the fact that he was happy to think about something other than the past.

"That's good, I was starting to get hungry again," Agumon added with a laugh as he rubbed his growling stomach.

Twenty minutes later the five rookie digimon found themselves standing outside a ten foot wall constructed out of cut down trees and branches and mud used to fill the spaces. Walls like this around cities and villages had been an uncommon sight in the Digital World they remembered, but now they were pretty common. They weren't a bad sign; in fact, they showed a kind of structure to the cities and villages that populated the Digital World. The walls outline all the land the village covered and grew when the villages grew, and when other digimon visited they would have to pass through the city gates. It showed an interesting change in the social order of the Digital World; a call to unity and order instead of the free spirited and nomadic nature of the old Digital World.

"So Leomon should be somewhere in this village," Palmon restated their reason for traveling to the forest village.

"Yes… hopefully, the village chief is the same Leomon we knew," Biyomon commented with an unsure tone.

In the old days they could have easily assumed that the Leomon they were now looking for was the same one they knew, but now they couldn't be sure. Once rookie digimon were the most common level found in the world, and the higher levels a rarity; but in this new world that was no longer true. Here, digimon at the level of champion were very common, with a good supply of ultimates, and quite a few megas were the new norm. The Digital World had become a realm of giants, so the fact that the village chief was a Leomon didn't mean much.

"We have to think positive. It'll be Leomon," Agumon argued, hoping to keep spirits high.

Once inside the village they found rows of similar looking four floored buildings built of logs and clay molding between them. The building were all built close together and clustered around large trees. On top of the four story buildings were other four story buildings, but they had been pushed back from the edge to create a road above circling the rim so digimon could walk around. Above that were two more layers, culminating in a large tree house at the top of each. They looked remarkably like wooden skyscrapers.

"Okay than, where do we start looking?" Patamon inquired, looking around in awe at the towering structures around them.

"Every village we've come across so far has had a town hall or village center, so we should probably start there," Gabumon noted as he began looking around.

"Good idea," Biyomon agreed. "Wherever it is, it'll most likely be near the center of the village and be a building a lot bigger than the other buildings."

After a thirty minute search they found themselves standing out front of large two story building. It was actually much smaller than all the other buildings, but it didn't really have to be since it appeared to have another purpose other than for living in. After watching the building for a few minutes they observed several wooden elevators pulled up to a very large multilevel tree house in the branches above by large ropes. The tree house was quite big, twice the size of the structure below, and built into the top of the villages biggest tree.

"I guess we go up," Agumon noted to no one in particular.

"I wonder if we need permission to go up there?" Palmon added, making the others wonder as well.

"As long as you have business with the council or village chief you're free to enter on any of the elevators," a familiar low voice answered.

"Does anyone else think that voice sounds familiar?" Agumon questioned, the surprise of the voice they knew freezing them in place and stopping them from turning around to check the source.

"It does, doesn't it?" Biyomon added.

"Yes, very familiar somehow," Patamon agreed.

Then as if a switch had been thrown the six whipped their heads around in unison and locked onto the source of the voice. There, standing behind them was a small green caterpillar digimon with a lopsided smile and watery eyes focused on the group.

"WORMMON!" The six cried out in a unified voice.

"I… I…" Wormmon stuttered on the verge of tears; but words were unnecessary as they entered into a happy reunion.

* * *

A few hours after reuniting in front of the town hall the now seven partner digimon recounted their stories and their reason for coming to Green Haven.

"So how long ago did you end up here?" Gabumon questioned Wormmon.

"About three years ago now. I wound up near here after the incident with the Royal Knights and eventually set out to look for others like all of you did. I traveled around most of the cities in the area, but when I was on my way to Desert Stead I was attacked by some gang of evil digimon and ended up here. After I healed up I was a little afraid to travel by myself and decided it was best to wait in one place for a while. I always assumed that I'd eventually hear some news or run into one of the others here, but to tell you the truth I was starting to lose hope until I saw you six standing there... But I couldn't be sure it was you all until we talked."

"That story fits with what we learned in the village of Desert Fire from Bearmon, right down to the army of evil digimon," Biyomon noted.

"The village of Desert Fire?" Wormmon questioned with a puzzled look.

"After they received help from the Legendary Warrior of Flame a few years back they renamed Desert Stead, The village of Desert Fire," Gabumon explained, recalling the story Bearmon had told them about the origin of the village's new name.

"It's good that they got some help. Those digimon that attacked me were a bad bunch," Wormmon commented. "But there's another one of those Legendary Warriors stories though."

"You've heard others?" Agumon questioned the smaller digimon.

"Yeah, quite a few actually," Wormmon replied. "Since I've been here I've heard a few stories about them. Are they in some way of interest to you?"

"You could say that," Agumon answered. "We think they might be related to the new Digidestined we've been hearing about."

"That would make sense considering how they just seem to appear and disappear," Wormmon thought aloud.

"What do you mean?" Biyomon asked, perplexed by Wormmons strange and sudden claim.

"I've been thinking about how they always show up when others are in danger and then disappear right afterwards," Wormmon stated. "Besides from when the Digital World is in need you never hear anything about them. No one knows where they go or where they can be found. You'd think that with their reputations whatever village or area they lived in would be pretty well known."

"That's a really good point," Gabumon spoke on behalf of the awed group. None of them had ever thought about it like that. They had just been going on gut instinct, while Wormmon had thought it out so well; even finding information and data to back it up.

"I guess we should expect smart things from Ken's partner," Patamon said in an attempt to compliment Wormmon, but his words only made Wormmons mood sink. Hearing his partners name only made old memories come rushing back to him, making his attitude become somewhat solemn.

"Enough focusing on the past," Agumon cheered, "we need to focus on the here and now and find Leomon."

"Loemon…?" Wormmon questioned.

"That's right, you and the others never met Leomon," Biyomon noted when it occurred to her that only the members of the first generation had met Leomon.

"He was a digimon that help us out a lot when we were fighting against Devimon. He was always very knowledgeable about what was happening in the Digital World, so we we're hoping he knew something now," Agumon further explained.

"He's also met and talked to the Legendary Warrior of Flame," Palmon added.

"When you say Leomon are you talking about the village chief from Desert Stead, I mean the village of Desert Fire, right?" Wormmon inquired.

"Yes… why?" Agumon questioned back.

"Because the chief from the village of Desert Fire left a few days ago," Wormmon broke the bad news.

"What!" The group sighed in shock. They had traveled all this way only to be told that they were a few days to late… not the best way to finish out their reunion.

"What do you mean he left a few days ago?" Biyomon moaned. "Don't tell me he went back to the village of Desert Fire and we missed him."

"From what I heard he wasn't heading for the village of Desert Fire when he left. The word is that he was heading for the Port of Waves in the east," Wormmon stated, looking off to the east as if he could see through the woods and across the miles of land to the port in the distance.

"Great…" Agumon sighed, "It looks like we've got more walking to look forward to."

With this momentary setback the group of partner digimon will have to wait a bit longer for answers. But for now they quickly gather themselves, pack up some supplies, and head off in the direction of the Port of Waves, another member stronger.

* * *

Hours ago night had fallen over this second day in the Digital World and the only light visible in the forest bordering the Dark Area came from the cracks around the covered windows of the small concrete building. Inside the building the figure in the brown cloak sat at the small table eating some kind of hot soup out of one of the bowls. On the small stove a pot of the same soup steamed over the low flame, being kept warm for a second helping.

While they eat they worked on the laptop resting on the edge of the table, but every so often they would look up and stare at the empty chair across from them before releasing a sigh and returning to the laptop.

"Who are you? And what do you want?" The figured ponder aloud to itself before closing the lid of the laptop and picking it up. They then carried it into the next room and returned without it a few seconds later.

They then walked over to the table picked up the bowl and made their way to the stove, turning off the flame before scooping the last bit of soup out and into the bowl. They then set the bowl down and began cleaning the pot. It took less than a minute to get it clean, dried, and hanging back on its hook. With another sigh they picked up the bowl of soup and headed for the back room once more, shutting off the overhead light before going under the archway.

Once in the back room they set the bowl of soup down next to the closed laptop on the desk before walking over to the bed. There they picked up the electric lantern and turned it onto the low setting, sending out ghostly white streaks of light across the room. They then set it down on the small nightstand by the bed and walked back over to the desk.

Silently they sat down and began eating the last of the soup. As they ate with the spoon in their right hand they picked up the downturned picture frame with their left. With a soft sigh they looked it over with just enough light for them to see the image it depicted, but the shadows of the room covered the image from any other distance away.

They spent the remainder of the meal like this, before finishing up and setting the picture frame back down like before and opening the laptop once more. Their night was only beginning and sleep was still a ways of despite how tired they felt; whatever goal they were working towards being enough to keep them going strong.

For better or worse with each passing day the Digital World continues to change.

* * *

To be continued…


	13. The AV Room

**Chapter 13**

**The AV Room**

With a loud thud the house shook slightly. "Takuya Kamiya!" Sora's angry voice quickly followed the sound. She knew by that sound he had jumped the stairs again, and by the how loud the impact was and how much the room shook she knew he must have jumped over the banister from as high up as the second floor.

"Sorry mom…" Takuya replied as he walked into the kitchen rubbing the back of his neck and giving her a guilty, but apologetic look.

"I swear if you keep doing that, one of these times you're going to crash right through the floor and into the basement," Sora stated with an aggravated glare as she pointed a spatula at him.

Takuya's only response was to laugh and continue to rub the back of his head in an embarrassed way before sitting down at the table to wait for the food his mother was cooking to be finished.

"Where's dad?" He suddenly questioned after noticing that Tai wasn't sitting across from him reading the newspaper like he normal did each morning.

"He had to go see an old friend early this morning," Sora answered as she slid the hot contents of the frying pan onto her son's plate.

The other day Izzy and Tai had arranged to work together today on the search for signs of the Digital World. Izzy was his own boss now so he had plenty of time and Tai had some free time now that he didn't have any jobs lined up; so Izzy had managed to convince Tai to spend the day with him as he tested some new equipment and looked for readings.

"Who meets this early in the morning?" Takuya yawned as he eyed the kitchen clock before putting a fork full of scrambled eggs into his mouth.

"How about high school students," Sora slyly smiled at her son as she sat down next to him to eat her own breakfast.

"And you know exactly how I feel about that," Takuya shot back with a laugh.

"Yeah, you complain about it enough," Sora teased back.

"I never complain. I only state opinions," Takuya retorted with a crooked smile.

"Oh, so that's what that is," Sora rejoined, reaching out a hand and trying to smooth down her sons wild brown hair.

"Hey," Takuya yelped as he tried to get out from under her grooming.

"Let me fix it. It looks like you just got out of bed," Sora teased, easily navigating her hand in every direction her son tried to dodge.

"I like it like that! It's a look," Takuya defended his look.

"That's exactly what your father used to say when he was your age," Sora happily laughed as she gave in and ruffled his hair, undoing all of her attempts at grooming his hair.

* * *

"So, Izzy, where do we start?" Tai questioned through a yawn. He had gotten up before the sun and the few hours before it had come up had been spent driving to a power plant near the coast.

Now that they were standing outside the closed plant, which had been closed when a modern and more efficient one had been built a few miles down the road, he couldn't help but wonder why they were there.

When Izzy didn't answer, too engrossed in typing on his laptop, Tai decided to have a little walk around. The two large smoke stacks still stood, but the years without maintenance or upkeep had turned them a dirty gray and formed stress cracks in the structures. The main control building had been sealed and condemned to ensure no one would enter while it waited for the local government came up with the money to demolish it.

Tai continued to walk around to the back until something caught his eye. Once the building was out of the way he could see a large impact point in one of the smoke stacks. Something had been slammed into it hard, creating a sunken impact and large cracks radiating out from the center. Whatever had caused the damage hadn't been natural. However, the stack was only the starting point. At the base, the ground was littered with explosion craters and deep trenches and slashes. All signs of some big battles.

"Wow…" Tai awed at the destruction.

"I know. It's hard to believe we were once so dependent on nuclear power plants like this one for power. Neutrino Reactor plants are just so much better. Ten times the power and none of the negative byproducts," Izzy commented as walked up behind Tai carrying his open laptop.

"I wasn't marveling at the old plant. I was thinking about whatever battle must have taken place here," Tai noted without looking away from the battlefield.

"Oh… Sorry…" Izzy nervously laughed. "But at least you know why we're here now."

"Yeah, but what exactly do you expect us to be able to find here? It doesn't look like anything's happened here in quite a while," Tai commented, noting the fact that all of the destruction looked pretty old. It had been long enough for some new grass to grow and dust to settle.

"There actually hasn't been a digital disturbance here for about two and a half months," Izzy noted as he hit a few keys on his laptop, bring up a slideshow of pictures. "But before it got quiet here, there had been over fifteen signals recorded from this plant; and that's only been during the two years I've actually known about the signals. Who knows how long they've been showing up here before that."

"Still, considering nothing's happening here now, why are we here?" Tai questioned with a perplexed look.

"This place seemed to attract the signals at one point, so I was hoping that we could figure out what's different about this place than the places where there are only a few or no signals at all," Izzy answered as he looked around for a place to start.

"This is going to really long and boring, isn't it?" Tai questioned with a sigh, not really expecting an answer.

* * *

"Ah, finally, lunch," Takuya happily sighed as he looked at the tray of food in front of him.

"You always seem so happy at this time of day," Zoe giggled at Takuya's elated smile. The way he acted during lunch, well it was probably just the fact that it wasn't class, could only be described as pure contentment.

"It's because it's his best subject," Koji scoffed before taking a bite out of his own meal.

Takuya took a moment to look up from his food and give Koji an annoyed glare before smiling and returning to eating his food. "You know what Koji? I'm going to let that go. I'm not going to let you get to me, so I'll just take that as a compliment and enjoy my, best subject," he happily flashed a victories smile to Koji.

"You know. The fact that you think that, kind of annoys me," Koji replied with an agitated sigh.

"I know. Which makes me smile even more," Takuya retorted with a crooked smile before taking a bite of his food.

"I think Takuya won that one," Koichi laughed before shying away from his brother's glare.

"Okay, not that that's done, look what I found at the mall yesterday," Zoe smiled as pulled her backpack onto her lap and flipped open the top flap. She rummaged around inside for a few seconds, just long enough for Takuya to lean over to try and look in the bag. Just as he got close she found what she had been looking for, yanked it out, and slammed it down on Takuya's head with a swift motion.

"What's on my head?" Takuya questioned while trying to roll his eyes back in an attempt to see the top of his head.

"Here," Zoe smiled; pulling out a compact and flipping it open so Takuya could see himself in the mirror.

"A hat…" Takuya noted the obvious as he tilted his head to different sides trying to get a good look at it.

The hat that now rested on his head was a light blue. It wasn't a normal baseball cap. It was made of a thinker cloth fabric with a flat top. Around the hat a darker blue belt had been sown into it for both decoration and to adjust the size. At the back the two ends of the belt came together in a blue metal buckle and the brim was pre-tattered for effect and look.

"Yes, Takuya, it's a hat," Zoe smiled. "I saw it yesterday and I thought it would look good on you."

Takuya didn't say anything as he adjusted it on his head, spinning it around so that it was on backwards. His reddish brown hair jotted out from under the cap in jagged patterns, giving him a less wild look.

"So what do you think?" Zoe questioned with big wanting eyes.

"It actually looks pretty good Zoe," Takuya replied with a satisfied smile. "I stopped wearing hats when I out grew my old one and couldn't find one good enough to replace it. But this one looks pretty good."

"I'm glad you like it. I though you could wear it when we go to the Digital World; to keep you hair out of your eyes," Zoe explained, while on the inside she was really glad Takuya would be wearing something she had given him. Little did she know that Takuya felt the same way every time he saw her wear the purple flower hairclips he had given her for one of her birthdays.

"So how much do I owe you for it?" Takuya questioned.

"You don't owe me anything for it," Zoe stated, before a sudden idea crossed her mind; one she couldn't resist. "How about you treat me to lunch or dinner this weekend and we'll call it even."

At this suggestion Takuya had his own idea. Lunch on the weekend seemed like something any pair of friends would do, it was just lunch after all; but dinner was different. Dinner was a lot like a date and not just a get together like lunch was. With this in mind he had to go for it.

"Make it dinner," Takuya quickly stated, with an almost too anxious tone.

"Okay…" Zoe blushed slightly and turned away so he wouldn't notice. The whole reason she had offered two times was so that he wouldn't feel that she was trying to get him to ask her out to dinner. She wasn't even sure he would pick dinner; she actually expected him to pick lunch since it seemed less committal. But now that he had picked dinner she couldn't help but think about how it seemed like a date.

"Okay, what?" JP questioned as he sat down with his tray of food.

"Nothing!" The two quickly stated before returning to their own food.

"Okay… Nice hat, Takuya. Where'd you get it?" JP asked, making the two jump slightly. Beside them Koji and Koichi stifled laughter at how the two were acting.

*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*

For a moment the group just exchanged looks with each other, trying to figure out what the alarm they were hearing was. Lately they just couldn't associate the sound with the warning sign from their D-Phones. Alarms were sounding every few days now, which was in steep contrast to the past three years where they would go at least a week between alarms. It was just that they weren't used to the constant alarms.

"I got the last one," Takuya sighed. "I almost got caught sneaking back in then, and I think that teacher's still on the lookout for me… I also think it might have been the same teacher who almost caught me on the first day…"

"Yeah, yeah…" Koji laughed as he leaned over and looked into his brothers open phone. "Hmphh," he added with a slight laugh.

"What?" Takuya questioned, getting the feeling that his lunch was about to get cut short.

"It looks like you don't have the choice to turn this one down," Koji laughed louder this time.

"Why…?" Takuya sighed, knowing that Koji was most likely telling the truth.

"It's in the Digital World," Koji teased.

"Damn," Takuya cursed his luck. "Why do we only have one of these things?" He questioned, removing the Dat-X from his belt and looking at his reflection in the shiny golden ball in the center.

"Because the materials and technology Lady Ophanimon used to make it are very rare. So rare that she couldn't make any others," Koichi answered, beating out Koji who he knew was going to make some sarcastic comment about Takuya not remembering something so important.

"And why exactly do I always have it?" Takuya questioned the group as he slipped the Dat-X back into the holster on his belt.

"Because you grabbed it first when it was offered," Koji snickered with a sly smile.

"That's not the reason," Zoe growled at Koji. "It's because you're the leader. And it's natural for the leader to have it," she smiled at Takuya.

"I guess you're the one it's safest with," Koji admitted with a roll of the eyes. The other members nodded in agreement, trying not laugh at Koji's agitated confession.

"This also works out pretty well. Koji and I have honors math after this, and if we miss, someone will notice," Koichi noted as he check the clock on the wall.

"I have writing after this and the teachers a real pain when it comes to tardiness," JP added.

"Well, you and I have gym class next and I'm sure no one will notice if we skip," Zoe said to Takuya with a smile that told him she was volunteering to go with him.

"Fine… Then I guess we should get going before something bad happens wherever were going," Takuya stated before picking up his tray and shoving as much food into his mouth as he could before tossing it into the trashcan.

"Right," Zoe smiled as she closed the lid on her plastic salad bowl and slipped it into her backpack.

"Let's go," Takuya smiled, pushing off of the table and grabbing the apple off of Koji's tray and shoving it into his mouth.

"Hey!" Koji yelled after him, but Takuya and Zoe were already gone.

The two quickly and quietly made their way through the hallways, trying to avoid drawing the attention of any teachers or students to them, until they reached a door at the end of one of the hallways. On the placard next to the door the words, AUDIO VISUAL ROOM, were written in white characters.

"Is anyone around?" Takuya questioned as he jiggled the locked handle.

During the first week of school the five friends had set about learning as much about the schools design and secrets as they could, which was how they had found the old AV room. The school had always been a high school since it was first built over fifty years ago, but over the last few years it had undergone constant renovations; and somewhere during all of these renovations the small room had been lost at the end of the dark hallway. Proof of this was that while all the classroom doors around the school had been refitted with biometric handles, which read the bio matrix of however touched it and only unlocked for students and teachers who should be allowed in the room, this door hadn't. Instead it still had an old lock and key design, the key having gone to who knows where over the years.

"I don't see anyone," Zoe stated, checking the hallway for any signs of life.

"Good," Takuya said, reaching out and knocking on the door. He then leaned forward and spoke into the door, "It's me. Open up."

With a click the handle turned and the door opened a crack. Instantly Takuya pushed the door open as much as he needed to and slipped in and around to the back of it. Next, Zoe followed him in and once she was in he checked the hallway one more time to make sure they hadn't been spotted going in before he closed and locked it.

"Thanks, Gatomon," Takuya smiled at the little white digimon standing on the desk near the door.

"No problem," She smiled in response before jumping from the desk to the metal cage behind her, climbed a few feet, and then jumped to Takuya's shoulder.

The old AV room was where Gatomon had been spending the school days. She could move about and come and go freely from the room without having to worry about anyone barging in. She also acted as the gate keeper, letting the different warriors in when they needed the use of their commandeered base of operations. It was actually thanks to her that they even had a base in the school to begin with. While she had been exploring the air ducts of the school she had come across the old room. When she knocked out the vent and checked out the room she found layers of dust on everything that had to at least be ten or twenty years thick. Gatomon had also discovered that the locked door could be opened without a key from the inside and not the outside.

Inside the room computers and other electronic equipment that were older than the two teens, some that might have even been older than their parents, were stacked in cluttered messes on the shelves. On the left side of the room a metal cage with a lock had been installed to protect whatever high end electronics and equipment the room had once housed; but it appeared that the room had been converted to a storage room for old, out of date, equipment over a decade ago. On the right side of the room a small teacher's refrigerator which had been salvaged from the old equipment had been plugged into an old, but still functioning, socket. Takuya had stocked it with food and water for Gatomon so she could keep up her strength during the day. On the far right side of the room, across from the fridge, were a computer and monitor which had been plugged into the same outlet as the fridge. Koji and Koichi had set it up, using the newest computer they could find amongst all the old equipment.

"What's going on?" Gatomon questioned as she watched Zoe go over to the computer and flip on the two components.

"We got an alert about a rift in the Digital World," Takuya replied, pulling out his D-Phone and bringing up the tracking program.

"Where's the target location?" Gatomon inquired, while watching Takuya scroll through the options, looking for the coordinates of the target he would need to give to Zoe when she got the portal program up and running.

"I can't believe people ever used something this slow," Zoe marveled at the archaic machine in front of her. "I mean how'd they get by with only ten terabyte's of ram and a one terabyte processer. Our cell phones have more power than this thing."

"My parents still insist that there was a time before the internet and we didn't have super high-resolution screens or virtual interfaces. And I'm not even going to tell you about the things my grandparents claim," Takuya laughed while he continued to shift through the tracking routine.

"Hehe, it's hard to believe that. Things must have been so tough for them," Zoe laughed as well. "There, the portal programs up. What are the coordinates?"

"Here they are," Takuya smiled. "Y-axis, 927382. X-axis, 338115. Z-axis, 462818."

"Got it," Zoe chirped before hitting the enter button and bringing up a list of portals. "Okay, the closest portal access to those coordinates is about a couple hundred feet from the signal," she announced before selecting the portal and locking it in.

"Good, it looks like we'll be in the Port of Waves in no time," Takuya commented as he closed his D-Phone and slipped it back into his pocket before gripping the Dat-X and leveling it at the screen.

"Digi-Port Open!" He cried as the Dat-X snapped open and instantly the locks on the portal program came undone, engulfing the room in bright white light.

* * *

"So Izzy… We find anything yet?" Tai sarcastically asked after hours of searching the facility and grounds with what he could only describe as having found nothing; but he wasn't the one with the laptop and any knowledge of what they were looking for.

"Maybe… But I won't really know if we've found anything until I get my laptop hooked up to my home terminal," Izzy commented without looking up from his laptop.

"Why's that?" Tai questioned with a puzzled look.

"My terminal at home is connected to my server and has a lot of processing power. Allowing it to do a lot more with the data I've gathered than my little laptop could ever do. My home terminal has a processing speed of!" Izzy explained before a beeping from his laptop stopped him from continuing.

Tai didn't care what the beeping indicated, he was just glad that whatever it was that it had stopped Izzy from talking and saved him from having to listen to Izzy list the stats of his computer in terms he would never understand.

"The hard drives full," Izzy noted with a monotone voice.

"So, does that mean were done…" Tai hope this was the case since he was getting bored with just walking around.

"No…" Izzy simply stated as he pulled out the compact hard drive from his laptop and slipped it into his bag before pulling out another one and slipped it into the slot he had removed the old one from.

"You carry extra hard drives?" Tai questioned with a bit of surprise in his voice.

"Yes, a few of them actually," Izzy stated as if Tai should have expected it. "Despite the fact that their petabyte hard drives they fill up quickly with the scanning program I'm running. The files it saves the data to are just so big that they don't last. This is actually the third time I've replaced it today."

"Remind me, Izzy. How much is a petabyte, again?" Tai questioned, really hating when the topic of technology came up. He already had to face the fact that his two sons knew more about technology than he did.

"It's one-thousand terabytes," Izzy simply answered.

"And how much is a terabyte?" Tai further inquired.

"One-thousand gigabytes," Izzy replied before looking up at Tai. "Do you need me to tell you how much a gigabyte is?"

"No, I actually know how much that one is. So that makes a petabyte… one-million gigabytes… That's a lot," Tai pondered as he walked over to an old office and tested the handle to find it locked. "So is this where we need to check next?" Tai questioned as he released the handle.

"Yeah," Izzy answered while he worked through the final steps of setting up the new drive.

"Okay," Tai smiled before taking a step back and gave the door a hard kick. Under the assault of his kick the old door burst off its hinges and fell to the floor in a clatter that echoed down the empty halls. "Let's get moving then."

* * *

"Smell that salt air," Takuya cheered as he extended his arms out and basked in the warm sunlight and cool breezes that blew in over the ocean.

"It's pretty nice that we can go from that stuffy school building to a balmy seaside city in a matter of seconds. Sometimes it's really great to be a Digidestined," Zoe smiled wide, inhaling a deep breath of salty sea air as she did.

The three, Takuya, Zoe, and Gatomon, had come out of a buzzing television set on the roof of a two story building of wooden planks and cut stone. The city was built on a sloping hill that terminated at a crescent moon coast. The buildings went down in steps, twenty-five levels to be exact, right up to the final one that was a series of boardwalks and docks. They had come out on the very top level of the city so they could see the entire metropolis sprawling out below them. So good was their view that they could see that the water that splashed under the docks and onto the patches of golden sand was a clear blue and sparkled under the influence of the sunlight.

"You've got that right, Zoe," Takuya smiled back, just happy to be out of school for a while.

"So where do we start?" Gatomon questioned them.

As if answering her question a sudden explosion roared forth from halfway down the city slope. Quickly turning towards the sound they spotted a growing cloud of white dust and flying planks of wood and rocketing chunks of brick.

"I'm guessing down there," Takuya simply stated with an emotionless tone before he pulled his new blue hat down tighter around his head.

"Yeah, I get it," Gatomon sighed before the three ran to the stairs, down them onto the streets, and down the slope towards the site of the explosion.

* * *

"So Izzy, now can we go?" Tai inquired as he stretched his body, trying to loosen himself up after sitting on the steps of the facility for so long.

Izzy had filled his final hard drive half an hour ago and had been doing who knows what on his laptop for the rest of the time; and by his account they had checked the whole facility, some places twice even.

"Looks like it," Izzy agreed, giving his map a final look over to make sure he had scanned every inch of the grounds.

"Great!" Tai smiled and hopped up from the stairs, pulling out his keys as he did so. "I'll bring the car around while you finish whatever you're doing there."

"Okay," Izzy nodded before returning to his work.

* * *

"So where did it go?" Gatomon pondered as the three of them stood in front of a devastated building which was missing all its walls but one. A two foot deep crater had also been carved into the white stones that made up the road the buildings floor.

"This is strange…" Takuya noted. "Usually when a Rifted shows up they just start attacking everything in sight; but it looks like after attacking this building it just ran off."

"Why would it do that?" Zoe wondered as the three looked around for any sign of where the offending digimon had gone.

"We need to split up and find that Rifted before it causes any more damage!" Takuya instructed as he angrily looked over the scared digimon peeking out from behind the walls and crates they were cowering behind. It made him angry to see the fear and pain the vile Rifted digimon had caused to well up in the peaceful digimon of the Port of Waves.

"Right," Zoe and Gatomon agreed in unison.

Following Takuya's orders the three split up and headed in different directions throughout the city; each looking for some sign of the Rifted Digimon.

"This is getting annoying!" Takuya growled in aggravation as he rounded another corner to find, like all the times before, an empty and undisturbed street. It had been five minutes since they had split up and as it stood no one seemed to have had any luck.

"Takuya!" Gatomons voice suddenly called out to him from above.

"Gatomon?" Takuya inquired, turning his gaze upward and to the left to find the feline digimon looking down at him from the top of a three story building. "Did you find something?"

"Yeah, I saw some digimon charging down a street a few over. It seemed to be causing way too much destruction to be a fleeing citizen of the city…" Gatomon called down to him, pointing in the direction of the street behind her. "It almost looked like it was chasing something, but I couldn't tell with all the digimon scrambling to get out of its way."

"Show me!" He replied and instantly Gatomon took off across the roofs, stopping every so often to make sure Takuya was still able to follow her from down in the streets; but after a while she stopped checking when it appeared he wasn't having any trouble.

After two minutes of running, Takuya could already hear the sounds of battle coming from the street just around the corner. With a final burst of speed he shot around the corner and into the street. The first thing he saw when he turned the corner was a seven and a half foot digimon covered in white fur and different blue waves and symbols. The best way he could describe it was as a large angry moose. It had large dark blue hooves topped with shaggy blue fur at the spot where the connected to the leg. Further up the legs, just below the knees, were tight brown belts. At the back a long tail with a shaggy tip of blue fur waved about angrily. Around its neck a bushy mane of blue fur framed its head where red, pupil less eye, were affixed in a scowl. And crown its head were a pair of large dark blue antlers with light blue strips and sharp points.

"_Moosemon?"_ Takuya guessed at the digimons name.

However, his eyes jumped right from the stampeding digimon to the blue blur rocketing towards it.

"VEE HEADBUTT" The blue blur cried before slamming into the Moosemon with a heavy impact; but the attack didn't seem to even phase the Rifted digimon, who shook the attack off easily before returning with one of its own.

"HAMMER HORN" The Moosemon cried out in an emotionless voice, slamming its horns into the little blue digimon.

With a much heavier impact than it had leveled against the Moosemon, the small blue digimon was sent flying back towards the wall at the end of the street near Takuya. With little time to react Takuya lunged forward, putting himself between the small rocketing digimon and the stone wall. A split second later the small blue digimon slammed into his chest as he closed his arms around it, bracing himself for the impact against the wall brought on by the digimons momentum. The crush of the wall quickly came as he wasn't able to absorb all of the force exerted by the impact; but he was strong enough to avoid serious injury and just get the wind knocked out of him by the duel pummeling he got from the wall and the digimon.

"Takuya!" Gatomon cried out when she saw him hunch over slightly after hitting the wall. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Takuya coughed as he tried to refill his lungs with oxygen. "Just a little winded," he added, shifting his eyes from the Rifted digimon that seemed to be watching him in interest, to the small blue digimon cradled in his arms.

The digimon in his arms was a small blue humanoid dino digimon. The scales on its stomach and around its mouth were white. Under its closed eyes were yellow triangle markings, and in the center of its forehead was a large yellow V and a small white horn for a nose.

"It looks like you're the reason why this Rifted didn't get the chance to go on a rampage," Takuya smiled down at the unconscious digimon.

"What do you mean?" Gatomon questioned as she slid down a drainpipe to a windowsill and then with a jump to Takuya's shoulder.

"It looks like he's been fighting the Rifted there for a while now. He must have attacked it when it destroyed that building and tried to lead it away from populated areas; most likely down to the water where it could do the least amount of damage. That, or he was actually trying to take it down," Takuya explained, standing up right and staring down the Moosemon.

"It's a Veemon by the way," Gatomon added.

"Thanks for holding out, Veemon," Takuya smiled down at the blue digimon before turning to the door beside him and kicked it open. He calmly stepped inside and located a small bed in the corner where he set the Veemon down just as its hazy eyes fluttered open briefly.

"T… Ta…" The Veemon groaned through the pain and haze.

"Rest little guy, when you wake up I'll have taken down that Moosemon for you," Takuya smiled at the Veemon before standing up and walking through the door, back into the street.

Back in the building the Veemon tried it's best to remain awake, but with a final word it fell into darkness again.

"Tai…"

When Takuya reemerged on the street it was to the sight of the Moosemon charging towards the building from up the street.

"It seems that you can't wait to get started," Takuya coldly smiled at the charging digimon as he pulled his D-tector out of his pocket, tossed it up to in front of his face, and caught it again with the same hand in one swift motion. "Well neither can I!"

"I'll keep an eye on things from above," Gatomon commented as she jumped from Takuya's shoulder to the drainpipe she had climbed down and quickly made her way back to the roof.

"SPIRIT EVOLUTION TO… AGUNIMON!"

In a torrent of flames and fractal code the human spirit of flame emerged, ready to take down the Rifted.

"Let's make this quick. I don't want to see this city or its digimon hurt anymore than you've already done," Agunimon growled before charging right at the Moosemon.

The two combatants ran right at each other. Moosemon leveling its antlers at Agunimons chest while Agunimon leveled his fist at Moosemons head.

"HAMMER HORN" Moosemons empty voice bellowed.

"PYRO PUNCH" Agunimons vibrant voice cried.

In an explosion of fire and force the two attacks connected, sending the two digimon sliding backwards on their feet, tearing up duel trenches of white rock in the street. With a stomp of his foot Agunimon brought his backward slide to a stop; and as if copying Takuya the Moosemon did the same, ending its own slide back.

"You so copied me," Agunimon growled before kicking off of the street and charging back at Moosemon, who again copied him and were at each other again.

"HORN BLADE" Moosemon hollered, bringing its head back as its antlers began to glow with a blue light. When Agunimon was close enough it brought its antlers down in a vertical slashing movement, cutting a deep slash in the street, but not Agunimon.

Takuya had predicted the move and side stepped the attack, allowing the blade of blue energy to pass right by. Then, with a swift step back in front of Moosemon he took advantage of the position the miss had put Moosemon's head in and stomped his foot down on it, burying its head and antlers in the street.

"Now, it's time for you to go!" Agunimon growled.

"PYRO TORNADO" Agunimon cried as he burst into a twister of flames, driving Moosemons head deeper into the street before burning it away completely. In a final flurry of flame Agunimon appeared and Moosemon vanished in a cloud of digital bits.

"That didn't take long," Zoe's voice suddenly cut in through the silence that had settled in over the street at the end of the battle.

"No, it didn't," Agunimon sighed before being engulfed in flames that shrunk down and dispersed, leaving Takuya standing over the burned crater in the middle of the street. "I took us a lot longer to track down that Rifted than it did for us to take it down."

"If we hurry we might actually be able to make it back to class in time to sneak into the line coming back from running track before they start today's activity," Zoe noted, checking the time on the watch around her wrist.

"That would be good," Takuya smiled as he extended and arm so Gatomon had something to jump too.

Once she was on his shoulder the three took off for the television set which they entered the Digital World through, in a hurry to make it back to class.

* * *

"How long will this take?" Tai questioned Izzy.

While Tai relaxed on the fluffy couch in Izzy's basement the computer genius worked at a sleek black computer table. However, it wasn't exactly a table; it was more of a computer. The surface of the desk was a large touch screen monitor, while the legs housed duel powerful servers. Izzy had called this creation the D-station, and had been the big invention that had earned him a good share of his money and techie fame.

"I've recently upgraded my D-station to a 2.0 version, so it won't take as long as it would have with my old one," Izzy noted as he slid the final filled compact hard drive into an open port in the D-station and closed the panel.

"You made a version 2.0," Tai laughed. "How much do you think you'll make on this one?"

"Maybe a little less than I made on the first version," Izzy thought about it for a second while he booted up the D-station with the new drives inserted. "But between what the production company takes as their cut and all the charities Michiko donates to, I'm not really sure."

"That wife of yours does love helping charities, doesn't she?" Tai noted.

"Yeah," Izzy smiled happily as he thought about how kind his wife was. "She loves those art scholarships programs the most."

"That's nice. If I remember right, wasn't she only able to go to art school because of a scholarship?" Tai questioned.

"Yeah, her parents weren't too well off, so they wouldn't have ever been able to send her to college without it," Izzy replied.

"And without college she wouldn't have been able to get the job she had, and you two never would have met," Tai smiled at the connection.

"Yeah, I really like those art scholarships too," Izzy turned and gave him a big smile before returning to syncing the hard drives with his D-station and getting the scanning program underway.

"That's great, Izzy; but back to how long this will take, since you didn't actually give me a time frame," Tai questioned with a tired yawn. He had been up since five in the morning and it was now nine at night. "I've already missed dinner with my family so I was at least hoping that I could catch the end of the game with my sons."

"For the data to get completely uploaded, sorted, and scanned it should take about… five days…" Izzy stated, typing away on the digital keyboard of his D-station.

"Izzy! Seriously? Five days!" Tai questioned with an awed gasp and an angry tone, making Izzy jump. "You've kept me here for two hours now when you knew it would take FIVE DAYS."

"Ahh… right… Sorry…" Izzy apologized now that he actually thought about the situation.

"I'm heading home, Izzy," Tai stated as he picked up his coat from the back of the couch and put it on. "Call me when you've got something," he added before heading up the stairs and letting himself out the front door.

"Will do," Izzy called after him without stopping his work.

* * *

"Welcome home, dad," Takuya called from the couch when he heard Tai come in the door.

"Hey, so how's the game going?" Tai inquired back.

"It's tied at 2-2 and there's ten minutes left, so they might be going into overtime if things continue like this," Takuya happily commented. He had apparently been enjoying the closeness of the game.

"So did you and Izzy learn anything?" Sora inquired in a whisper. She had been working over the stove, reheating dinner for him when he called and told her he was on his way home.

"We'll know in a few days if he did," Tai whispered back.

"I hope he does finds something," Sora sighed, "we haven't had anything since that battle in the park."

"I just hope he finds something so I don't feel that I wasted my day off," Tai laughed.

"That reminds me, the sink upstairs is leaking," Sora noted.

"Okay, I get the idea," Tai laughed. "Hey, Takuya!" he called to his son.

"What?" Takuya's voice came from the living room.

"This weekend you're helping me fix the upstairs sink," Tai instructed his son.

"Right," Takuya agreed before returning to the game. "Are you going to stay in the kitchen or are you going to watch the end of the game?" Takuya questioned, reminding his father of what he was missing.

With his memory jogged Tai turned to Sora and gave her his best puppy dog eyes.

"Fine… I'll bring you your food when it's warm," Sora laughed.

Tai responded by giving her a quick kiss on the lips and another on the forehead before running to the living room and jumping over the back of the couch, landing in between his two boys. From the kitchen Sora just smiled and laughed to herself as the three joked about and Tai ruffled the boys' hair. Well, he was able to ruffle Shinya's hair and twist the hat on Takuya's head.

"Where'd the hat come from?" Tai questioned Takuya.

"Zoe got it for me," Takuya replied, trying to hide the slight blush and big smile it brought to his face.

"Awww," Tai slyly teased.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Takuya questioned with a suspicious look.

"Nothing," Tai smiled with a crooked smile. "You know, with that hat on you look a lot more like your mother did in the old days."

"Really?" Takuya questioned.

"Yeah, she used to wear this blue hat all the time when she was eleven," Tai commented.

"Hmm, no wonder mom said she liked it," Takuya laughed and was quickly followed by his father.

The last hour of the night was spent like this in the Kamiya house, until bedtime rolled around.

After a shower and putting on his pajamas Takuya stepped into his room. "It's just me," he yawned as he twisted the lock on the door.

At his words Gatomon crept out of the closet and made her way over to the bed. She then jumped up onto the bed and curled up at the foot of it, ready to get some sleep.

*RING*

The familiar eerie tone sounded from his phone.

*RING*

On the second ring Takuya lunged for his D-phone on the desk and flipped it open, pressing it against his ear in an attempt to make sure a single sound or syllable didn't escape him.

"Hello…" he whispered into the phone and waited for a response.

For a few minutes he stood in the middle of the room waiting for a reply. He had already decided he would wait until a response came or the line went dead.

Then, through the crackle of the static the voice came through. "Are you alright…?" It asked, but due to the static coming over the phone he couldn't tell if it was a mocking or concerned tone.

"I am…" Takuya replied. After that the next thing he heard was the sound of the line disconnect and go dead.

Knowing that they wouldn't call back Takuya closed the phone and set it back down on the desk before going over to his bed and turning in. As he slept that night he had a dream about the past, but when he awake the next day it and the contents of if would have vanished.

* * *

To be continued…

* * *

On a side note I added a piece to my profile that has to do with my three stories; so if you're looking for something extra to read, check it out on my profile page and PM me if you think of something I missed. Look for Comparing and Contrasting- CW:TSD, BbaSD, and FL


	14. A Day in the Digital World: Three

**Chapter 14**

**A Day in the Digital World: Three**

The group of partner digimon so far- Agumon, Biyomon, Gabumon, Palmon, Patamon, Tentomon, and Wormmon.

* * *

"Another five days to reach the Port of Waves," Palmon whined as she leaned up against the post of the welcome sign for the Port of Waves.

"It is nice to be done with another long walk," Gabumon agreed.

"At least this time it wasn't across a burning desert. A walk through a forest with lots of shade, water, and food is much nicer than the blistering sun and hot wind," Biyomon stated, recalling their last two treks across the desert.

"It's great that we finally made it, but we should hurry up and look for Leomon before we miss him again," Agumon noted with a hint of urgency to his voice.

"You have a point. It would be really annoying if we missed him again by a few days," Biyomon sighed at the unpleasant idea.

"Then let's find the city hall," Wormmon stated.

"I wonder where the city hall is?" Patamon questioned no one in particular as he glided around a set of stairs that lead down to the village proper. From where they were they could see the entire port sprawling out beneath them.

"That's a good question. It's been a while since we were in a city this big, so it leaves us with a lot of ground to cover," Gabumon noted looking out over the landscape.

"It's actually a very pretty city," Palmon commented. "Maybe if we find Leomon here we could take some time to relax and soak up some sun."

"That would be nice," Biyomon agreed, "we'll just have to see how things play out."

"Let's start…!" Agumon began to cheer before the rumble of an explosion came echoing up to them from the city below.

"What was that!" Palmon cried, tracing the sound of the explosion back to its source.

In the distance a cloud of white dust rose into the air as chunks of broken rock and wood rained down onto the surrounding buildings and streets.

"Something must be attacking the city!" Wormmon stated unable to take his eyes off of the rising cloud.

"What should we do?" Patamon questioned of the group.

"We help!" Agumon declared before he began to run down the stairs, followed by the rest of the group.

They hurried down the stairs toward the incident, but when a flash of light flickered at the edge of Agumon's peripheral vision his attention was drawn to the right. Something off in the distance, atop of a roof on the same level of them was reflecting the bright sunlight. Whatever was reflecting the light was small and shiny, and apparently moving, because it quickly vanished below the line of buildings.

"What…?" Agumon briefly questioned the source, it somehow bringing up memories of his partner.

* * *

In the middle level of the city a rift had formed, sending out sporadic arcs of electricity to the buildings around it. It was uncommon to see one appear but not open quickly, but in the last couple of months they had been acting differently; just like the portal that now hovered over the street. All around the rift rookie and small champion digimon cowered behind boxes and stalls, not wanting to get close to the rift in case it was dangerous, but still wanting to watch to feed their curiosity. However, two digimon were brave enough to chance approaching the rift, a small blue dino digimon and a small yellow digimon down on four paws.

"So what's this thing supposed to be?" The familiar blue dino digimon asked his companion.

"How am I supposed to know, Veemon?" The small yellow digimon asked back.

"I don't know Armadillomon, I just thought you might have an idea," Veemon rejoined taking a few steps closer to the rift.

"I don't think getting so close is a good idea, Veemon," Armadillomon stated, his voice filling with more concern than before.

"But it's just hanging there," Veemon replied as he reached out and touched the surface of the rift with one of his white claws, sending a ripple of energy flowing out and across its surface.

As if responding to his touch the arcs of energy increased in power and became more frequent, before the blue surface of the rift began to change to white.

"That doesn't look good…" Veemon noted taking a few clumsy and frightened steps back.

"What did you do?" Armadillomon moaned, taking a few steps back as well.

"All I did was touch it!" Veemon yelped in his own defense.

"Well, that doesn't seem like such a good idea now does it," Armadillomon argued back, continuing to take steps back away from the now violent rift.

"You say that after the fact!" Veemon retorted.

Before Armadillomon could think of a retort, a Moosemon erupted forth from rift and crashed down on the white stones street, its hooves digging through the hard surface and down to the brown earth beneath. Then, in a flash the rift collapsed in on itself and vanished.

"Did it just…" Veemon began to ask if a digimon had just emerged from the circle of energy when Armadillomon answered before he was able to finish.

"Yes, yes it did…" Armadillomon stuttered in awe.

For a solid minute the Moosemon stood in the street just looking around, ignoring the two digimon just a few feet from it. Then, with a narrowing of its eyes it locked in on a building to its right.

"HANGING TWISTER" Moosemons attack bellowed in a tone lacking any hints of emotion.

In a tearing and ripping whirlwind of air, dyed blue by the attacks energy, the building on the right was demolished by an explosion of powerful gales. Shattered bricks and wooden planks were sent flying in all directions as most of what remained of the three walls of the building collapsed in on themselves.

"Is he crazy!" Veemon cried as he and Armadillomon moved about dodging falling debris.

"I don't know!" Armadillomon responded. "I'm still trying to get over the fact that it came out of that strange portal."

Not satisfied with the destruction it had just caused the Moosemon turned its attention to a group of small digimon cowering against a wall, too afraid to run away.

"HANGING TWI!" Moosemon bellowed, but a sudden impact to the side of its head stopped it in mid attack.

"VEE HEADBUTT" Veemon cried out a second before slamming into the head of the Moosemon.

The attack barely fazed the Moosemon, but it had been enough to stop its attack and turn all of the Rifteds attention on Veemon.

"Stop that!" Veemon growled as he staggered about holding his head, trying to clear his mind of the haziness that had set in after the brain rattling hit he had initiated. "What do you think you're doing?" He added trying to point a finger at the Moosemon but was instead pointing to a fruit stand in the other direction.

"A more important question Veemon, what do you think you're doing?" Armadillomon questioned his friend with a shocked look. He, like Veemon, was one for defending the weak, but considering the level difference and the fact that they couldn't digivolve without their partners, they were at a serious disadvantage. And that wasn't even factoring in the fact that something seemed very wrong with the Moosemon.

"I meant to stop him… but now I'm trying to make the city stop spinning…" Veemon dizzily answered.

"HAMMER HORN" Moosemon snarled as it began channeling blue energy into its antlers, ready to bring it down on the dazed and defenseless Veemon at its feet.

"DIAMOND SHELL" Armadillomon cried out, curling itself into a ball and aiming itself at the Moosemons head hoping to stop it like Veemon had before.

However, this time the Moosemon saw the attack coming and swung its antlers towards the approaching hard ball. With a heavy impact it connected with Armadillomon and sent him flying through one of the two remaining walls of the demolished building, bring part of it down on him, and burying him in debris.

"Armadillomon!" Veemon cried out for his companion, but the only response he got was the sound of rocks hitting against each other as the newly fallen wall settled.

The Moosemon knowing that it hadn't killed its opponent due to the hard shell readied another attack to bring the remainder of the building down on the small digimon and end its life. But before it could launch an attack a broken piece of white stone bounced off the side of it head, drawing its attention back to Veemon.

"Come on you big jerk," Veemon taunted, throwing another rock that the Moosemon didn't bother to avoid.

With a snarl and flare of its nostrils the Moosemon slowly, one hoof at a time, turned towards Veemon. As he watched the Moosemon slowly take steps towards him Veemon stared into its red pupil less eyes which despite its angry look and movements showed no such emotion, for that matter they looked empty and dead.

"Come on! Come and get me!" Veemon taunted giving a quick glance over to where Armadillomon was buried beneath the rubble before running off, continuing to call to the Moosemon as he did in hopes of getting him away from his downed friend.

* * *

"I think that explosion came from just up ahead," Biyomon stated as she eyed the approaching corner.

"I think you're right," Agumon replied as he rounded the corner first. When he did a flash of light blinded him for a second before vanishing. _"That light again?"_ He pondered to himself without stopping. He knew that whatever had caused it had run down the alley at the end of the street, and if he hurried he might see what it was.

Down the last bit of the street the group went and slid to a stop at the corner. While the rest of the partner digimon focused on the demolished building Agumon stared down the street he guessed the source of the flash had disappeared down, but he saw nothing except old crates and closed stands. Whatever it had been, it was gone once again.

"Agumon, are you okay?" Biyomon questioned him. It was easy to see that he was distracted by something since he was staring off into the distance while the others had already headed down the opposing street to the destroyed building.

"It's nothing Biyomon…" Agumon sighed before following her to join up with the others.

"What digimon did this?" Palmon inquired as she and the rest of the group looked over the wreckage.

"More importantly, why did sthey do this and where did they go?" Tentomon further inquired with a more serious tone.

"Actually, I have another one that at the moment that might be the most important," Patamon announced as he landed on a slab of stone and pressed his ear against the surface. "Does anyone else here something moving under the rocks?"

Before any of them could answer a low grinding sound starting coming from below their feet followed by sections of the flat white stone that made up the road rising up around a small central point. Then, with a final burst a yellow pair of claws and head emerged from the ground.

For a moment the group of partner digimon stared at the head of Armadillomon as he stared right back that them.

"Guy…?" He questioned, unsure if it was them. This isn't the first time he had met similar digimon, just not this many at once. He still remembered how Veemon grilled him with questions to make sure it was him when they first met up again.

"ARMADILLOMON!" They all cheered in a lopsided unison before closing what little distance there was between them and pulled him out of the hole he had dug to get him out from under the debris.

"Is it really you guys?" Armadillomon asked through all of the chatter and sounds of reunion.

"It's really us, Armadillomon," Agumon assured him with a big toothy smile.

"That's great…! Veemon!" Armadillomon suddenly shouted as he looked around frantically.

"We haven't met up with him yet, why?" Wormmon questioned with a puzzled look.

"No, that's not it! He and I have been traveling together for a while now," Armadillomon stated as he continued to look around. "But while we here this strange circle of energy appeared in the street and a Moosemon came out of it and began tearing the city up. Veemon stopped it from attacking some digimon, but then it turned on us and knocked me out. And now their gone…"

"What!" The group shouted as they started looking around as well.

"That mean digimon chased that digimon that saved us down that way," A small red in-training digimon pointed back the way they had come with its big floppy ears.

"Thanks," Agumon thanked the small digimon before motioning for the others to follow him, "Let's go save Veemon!"

When the group of partner digimon was a good distance down the road the in-training digimon all came out of hiding and began to examine the destruction that had befallen their little corner of the city. One small green digimon in particular hopped out, right up next to the digimon that had given the partners a direction to go.

"Do you think you should have told them about those humans that were here before them?" The green digimon asked the red one.

"I don't know…" The red digimon responded. "We didn't come out when they were here so we don't know why they were here… So it's not like we could have told them anything about the humans."

* * *

"This was not a good idea," Veemon cried as he jumped down an alley letting the Moosemon stampede by. He ran down the alleyway, jumping over and dodging crates as he did. Behind him he could already hear the Moosemon correct its course and begin tearing its way down the alley, the sound of crates exploding and stone cracking under its hooves being the indicator.

"Come on!" Veemon whined, "Why don't you just give up already! Trust me, I'm not worth it."

But either the Moosemon didn't care or thought he was because it just continued to charge, quickly catching up with him. When it was on him Veemon once again dove through the first opening he could find and managed to avoid being speared on its antlers.

"Where am I going?" Veemon questioned himself though tired gasps of air.

Veemon continued to run down the street he had jump out into but he quickly noticed something was wrong. "Wait… Where did he go? I don't hear him anymore…" Veemon inquired of himself, stopping to catch his breath and listen. There was nothing. No hooves against stone or angry grunts, just the low echoes of waves crashing on the beach and the wind blowing between the buildings.

However, the eerie silence didn't last when the sudden cracking of stone filled the air and in the next instant the Moosemon erupted through one of the walls of a building behind Veemon.

"Damn!" Veemon cursed as he attempted to dodge the flying shrapnel that was once part of the wall.

His battles from the past had taught Veemon quite a few lessons, and one of those lessons was how to notice when he was in a position in which he had no choice but to fight. By stopping he had allowed the Moosemon's trick to catch him off guard and close the gap between them, and with the Moosemons size and reach if he tried to turn and run he would be crushed when he attempted it; leaving him with only the chance to strike in hopes of creating an escape route.

"VEE HEADBUTT" Veemon cried before launching himself at the Moosemons neck. A second later he impacted the solid mass of fur and muscle, shaking his brain and bouncing him backwards. His only hope now was that the Moosemon had been surprised and wouldn't be able to react. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case and the Moosemon instantly recovered and leveled its own attack against him.

"HAMMER HORN" The Moosemon bellowed slamming its antlers against Veemon who was airborne and unable to avoid the attack. All Veemon could do was brace himself against the attack by covering his head and face with his arms.

As soon as his arms were up the Moosemons attack connected, sending ripples of pain shooting through Veemon's body and sending him sailing through the air, heading for the wall behind him. While his mind reeled from the impact Veemon thought about what would come next. He would hit the wall, HARD, and it would most likely knock him out; and while he was out the Moosemon would finish him off. He truly hated that it was going to end like that; alone and without ever having seen Davis again.

Through the haze of his half-conscious vision Veemon could see that the wall was close now, so he braced himself and hoped that the Moosemon would make it quick. But just as he condemned himself to his end a blur suddenly shot between him and the wall. In the next instant he impacted something a lot softer than a wall, but whatever it was he couldn't tell because his eyes and mind had finally given out to the pain and gone black.

As Veemon floated in his sea of unconscious blackness he was aware that he was being held, and that whatever was holding him was moving. He could also pick up on sounds. Someone was talking to him, but he couldn't understand what they were saying. Then, in a flash of blinding light his eyes flickered back into use and found himself staring up into a blurry face… A human face!

It was the face of a human, there was no mistaking it, and it even looked familiar. It was still so blurry and the sunlight coming in from the window behind it didn't help, but despite these problems Veemon tried to make it out. Brown hair under a blue hat, brown eyes, tanned skin, a pair of goggles hanging around the neck, and a warm and bright smile were what he saw. These bits of features stirred in his brain until they found a connection and an image shot through his mind. An image of Tai when he was fifteen.

"T… Ta…" The Veemon groaned through the pain and haze, just trying to say Tai's name, but no matter how much he strained himself he couldn't get the word to come out.

Why didn't Tai recognize him? Was it because there were other Veemon out there and he like the rest couldn't be sure about his identity? Or had Tai forgotten him after all the time that had passed?

"Rest little… …you wake up… …taken down… …Moosemon… …you," the broken words of the Tai like figure said in a voice that could easily have been Tai's. Veemon knew he was missing a lot of what was being said due to the ringing in his ears, but he didn't really care, it was so nice to hear a familiar voice.

Suddenly, the figure stood up and walked away leaving Veemon alone in the bed he had been set down in. To the side Veemon could see him going towards the door with some fuzzy white blur now resting on his shoulder. Veemons mind cried out for Tai to stay and not leave him, but somewhere between his mind and mouth the message was lost and he could only continue to try and utter Tai's name.

"Tai…" He finally managed to weakly say before his vision and mind failed once again. As he faded into black again he couldn't be sure if he had been heard since his eyes and gone out before his mind, so he never saw Takuya walk out of the room and back into the street.

"Ve… Veem…"

Was someone calling his name? Was it Tai? Did he finally recognize him?

"Vee… Ve…"

It wasn't the voice he had heard earlier, but it was still a familiar voice; one he hadn't heard in years!

"Veemon!"

With that final clear and loud utterance of his name Veemon's eyes shot open and his mind cleared. Above him the pale blue eyes of Wormmon looked down at him; the look of happiness easy to see in his long lost friends face.

"Wormmon…?" Veemon questioned from the flat of his back, but before he could get an answer movement in room drew his attention. "Guys…?"

"Hey, Veemoon," Agumon smiled.

"It's good to see you," Biyomon smiled with a small bow.

The next few hours were spent in reunion. They all welcomed the return of two more members and shared their individual stories since they had been broken up. It wasn't until someone asked Veemon how he got in the bed that he recalled the human he had seen.

"So how'd you get into that bed?" Armadillomon inquired as he looked around trying to find an answer to his own question.

"I was put here by… TAI!" Veemon ended in a sudden shout as he jumped up and began looking around, his words making Agumon jump with similar surprise.

"What about Tai?" Agumon demanded the information.

"It was Tai who saved me and put me in this bed," Veemon claimed, making the eyes of all the partner digimon open wide in surprise. "…at least it looked like him."

"Tell me what you're talking about," Agumon again demanded. No one could blame him for being anxious for answers. If Veemon had suddenly claimed to have seen one of their partners they knew they would be acting the same way.

"Well, you see…" Veemon began telling them what had happened with the Moosemon and how he had been saved by what appeared to be Tai. "But because I couldn't see straight, I couldn't be sure if it was Tai…" He concluded with and silence fell over the room.

"Hmmm," Tentomon pondered before coming back with a question. "If it was Tai; why didn't he recognize Veemon?"

"I don't know… But are you sure it was Tai?" Agumon questioned Veemon once more.

"He looked and talked like Tai, but I can't be sure. I was pretty messed up," Veemon admitted.

"…" After that Agumon said nothing as he began contemplating what Veemon had told him.

"Okay, all of that Tai stuff aside, this is still pretty big," Tentomon stated. "This means that there are definitely humans in the Digital World. And since Moosemon is gone they must also have the means to fight."

"Are you saying they have new partners?" Palmon cried, making the digimon shutter at the thought.

"No… Well, I don't know… but we can't even be sure it was Tai," Tentomon try to reassure the group.

Silent contemplation once again fell over the group as they tried to figure out what to do with all they had learned. The strange rift, the evil digimon, humans in the digital world again, and a sighting of one that might or might not have been Tai.

"We should start looking for Leomon again," Agumon suggested, breaking the silence, before walking out the door. The other just gave each other quick glances before following Agumon out the door in search of Leomon or the city hall.

* * *

In the shelter in the woods, on the kitchen table for two, an open laptop hummed away as the image of a map, currently focused on the Port of Waves, was displayed on the screen. Next to it an open cell phone in sleep mode rested. In front of the stove the cloaked figure stirred something in one of the pots before pulling out the large spoon and set it down on the counter. Then, turning and looking out the window over the sink, into the night sky that could be seen through the breaks in the tree branches they uttered a few words.

"He came to the Digital World today," the figure noted before sighing and picking up the spoon once more to return to stirring the food.

* * *

In the Dark Area things appeared to have returned to normal. The forests that had once been clear cut had somehow returned, and the scarred earth no longer showed any sign of mistreatment.

Everything on the surface seemed right, but two things were still amiss. First, a strange atmosphere had settled in over the land. It was one of foreboding and anticipation of the things to come. And second, there weren't any digimon in the Dark Area no matter where one looked. They had all just disappeared…

* * *

To be continued…


	15. Relations and Results

**Chapter 15**

**Relations and Results**

*BOOM*

"TAKUYA KAMIYA!"

"Sorry, mom…"

"Take your food."

"Sorry, got to eat on the run today."

"Then, here."

"Thanks. Bye mom, bye dad."

*SLAM*

"I think we have this whole morning routine down pretty well," Tai smiled at his wife as soon as his oldest son was out the door.

"Yep, it's almost like we don't have to know whose talking," Sora laughed back before taking a seat beside Tai with her cup of coffee in hand. "So today's the day, huh?" she added with a relaxed sigh.

"Yeah, sometime today Izzy should have the results of all that work we did at the power plant," Tai stated setting down the newspaper and taking a sip of his coffee.

"Let's hope that he found something because it would be nice to have some news for a change," Sora added after taking another sip of her warm drink.

"I guess we just wait until he calls now," Tai sighed before a perplexed look came across his face. "Wait… Why did he have to eat on the run… and why is he up at seven in the morning on a Saturday?"

"It seems that Zoe somehow convinced him to join Theater with her and today they have an early weekend practice," Sora laughed at the idea of Zoe getting Takuya to join something like Theater. "My guess for the having to eat on the run part is that he overslept a bit and is really close to being late to pick Zoe up."

"He is definitely not a morning person," Tai laughed at the idea as well.

"Well, you know what they say. Father like son," she smiled at him before picking up the arts section of the paper and hiding from Tai's glare behind it.

* * *

"Dad, wake up!" A voice nicely insisted of him.

"Chiaki…?" Izzy groggily stated as he sat up on the basement couch.

"Morning, dad," she greeted him with a hug.

"What time is it?" Izzy asked as he stood up and tried to brush the wrinkles out of clothes.

"Eight-thirty in the morning," Chiaki answered stepping aside so her father could stretch. "Mom says that the production company called and they want you to look over some of the plans."

"Really…" Izzy sighed as he narrowed his eyes trying to see the status bar of the scans he had been running for the last five days on the monitor on the other side of the room. "They probably messed something up with the interface again. Thanks, for telling me dear," he added as he bent over and gave his daughter a kiss on the head.

"You're welcome, daddy," she smiled before walking to the stair and going up; but at the last few before the top she stopped and crouched down so she could see her father between the staircase and the ceiling. "Mom also said to tell you that if you sleep down here again tonight and not with her, you'll be spending the next month down here."

"Hmmph," Izzy laughed as his daughter vanished up the remaining stairs. "I should probably be more careful about falling asleep on that couch," he stated, staring down at the couch that could become his bed for a month if he wasn't more careful.

With another sigh he prepared to go upstairs and change before heading out and making the long drive to the production company that was currently working on the version 2 D-station; but before he did he made a quick trip to his prototype.

"Ninety percent complete," Izzy said to himself. _"Probably twelve more hours at this pace… and it's about eight now…"_

With that last internal comment he picked up his laptop and head up to his bedroom.

* * *

"Why are we having early morning practices when all we've been doing is acting drills?" Takuya asked Zoe in a jumbled yawn. "We don't even have a play picked out yet."

"True, but we'll have one soon enough and then you'll be glad we had these extra lessons," Zoe lectured him with a smile.

They were currently in the middle of break from the practice, sitting on the end of the stage drinking from a thermos of tea Zoe had brought for them to share. All around them fellow Theater club members were running around discussing different methods or moving different stage equipment from the back rooms.

"Yeah, yeah… You also say that I'll be thankful that you signed me up for Theater Club one day, which also hasn't happened yet," Takuya sarcastically added, earning himself a punch in the arm from Zoe.

"Trust me, Takuya," Zoe angrily smiled at him as she pinched his arm. But before she continued to speak her expression softened and she leaned over, placing her head on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around the same arm she had punched. "You'll learn that I'm always right about these kinds of things. No matter how long I have to stick around you for you to get the idea."

"How can you know that?" He questioned, unable to fight the blush spreading across his face or look down at her hugging his arm.

"It's my female intuition," she answered back as she closed her eyes, enjoying the contact.

"About tonight," Takuya suddenly interrupted Zoe's calm.

"Tonight…?" Zoe began to question before the memory of the hat exchange came rushing back to her. "Ahh, yeah…?"

"I was thinking we'd go out…! I mean head to dinner, around eight, so I'll pick you up at seven-thirty," Takuya explained his thinking, stumbling on the words, go out, due to how much of a date term it was.

"That sounds good," Zoe smiled happily as a deep blush spread across her face, but luckily for her it was hidden behind his arm.

"Okay, then it's a…" Takuya cut himself short when he realized that the next word in his line was the word, date.

For a few minutes the two sat in silence, unbroken by all that was happening around them until another girl called for Zoe.

"Zoe, could you help us with this part over here?" The voice of an older female student called her over.

"Sure!" Zoe chirped as she pushed off of Takuya's shoulder to get up and walked over to the group of four girls who were in the middle working though the latest acting exercise. As she walked Takuya couldn't help but watch her walk away, all the while not knowing that she was throwing in a bit of a wiggle in hopes that he would watch her walk away.

* * *

"Grab that toolbox and meet me upstairs," was the first thing Tai said to his eldest son when he stepped in the door.

"Okay…" Takuya uneasily answered as he set his backpack down behind the couch and eyed the old red metal toolbox sitting near the stairs. With a sigh Takuya hoisted up the heavy box and turned towards the stairs, all the while trying to remember what was going on.

"Upstairs, sink, promise, and weekend," Sora stringed together words without looking up from her fashion magazine.

"Huh…?" Takuya pondered his mothers words for a few seconds before a realization dawned on him and her words fell into place. "I kind of forgot I promised to help dad fix the sink earlier this week…" He nervously laughed as he rubbed the back of his neck with his freehand.

"Get going… I want that leak fixed and you two washed up before dinnertime," Sora ordered, pointing a finger up the stairs.

"Actually…" Takuya spoke up before falling into an embarrassed silence. After a bit he finally found the right word and spoke again. "I promised to treat Zoe to something to eat for dinner to thank her for the hat," he carefully noted while pointing to the blue hat on his head.

"Hmmm… Interesting," Sora hummed with a big sly smile.

"I… I don't know what you're thinking that's making you smile all creepy like that," Takuya stated, "but stop it. It's nothing like that."

"Nothing like what?" Sora sung back in a playful tone.

"I… I… I… Nothing…" Takuya stuttered back, unsure of what to say or do.

"I'll let it go for now, so hurry up and help your father," Sora smiled victoriously at him before returning to her magazine.

"Right…" Takuya sighed in defeat, before turning and slowly made his way up the stairs.

With a defeated shuffle Takuya made his way to his parents' bedroom, all the while contemplating how quickly his mother had seen through him. He had chosen his words so carefully and yet she had instantly found what he had been trying to hide. Long ago he had learned that his mother was a scary person who had some special ability to read him like a book.

"Hey, dad," Takuya sighed as he step into the master bedroom and found his father relaxing on the bed, waiting to begin working on the sink.

"You look like you were defeated by your mother again," Tai laughed as he sat up and flicked the light on in the bathroom.

"I'm not sure if I was… but it feels that way. I'm just not sure why," Takuya sighed, setting down the red toolbox on the tiled floor and staring at the piping under the sink.

"I know that feeling all too well…" Tai laughed back, taking a seat on the edge of the tub.

"Are you going to be able to work from there?" Takuya questioned his father with a confused look.

"No," Tai replied, "but I'll be able to supervise just fine," he added with a sly smile.

'Ha, I guess that means I'm doing all the physical stuff, huh?" Takuya laughed as slid the toolbox beside the sink and crawled under the plumbing.

With that the two set about working to find the problem and make repairs, and as they worked they talked. Eventually the subject of the talk turned in the direction Takuya had been working towards since the beginning.

"So, umm, when you used to go out to eat with mom, when you were my age, where did you used to go? I mean when you two were just friends, not dating, but you know still wanted to be around each other more…?" Takuya brokenly questioned in a nervous tone as he twisted a pipe free from another with a turn of the wrench.

Taking a moment to organize the question his son had asked him into an understandable one, Tai prepared an answer. "I figure from your question that you want to know where me and your mom used to go out to eat when were… close to dating…?" Tai watched his sons face as he stated the thought, looking for an indicator that he was on the right track.

"Uh, yeah… I guess," Takuya replied as he inspected the pipe he had just pulled out of the assembly.

"Now check the pipes joint," Tai instructed his son before returning to the conversation at hand. "There were a few places. We usually went somewhere fun and avoided serious restaurants until we started dating."

"Fun places?" Takuya questioned with great interest as he inspected the joint with a flashlight.

"Yeah, snack bars, sporting events, the movies, or those family restaurants. Stuff like that," Tai explained as he leaned over to inspect the joint as well.

"So it doesn't matter if it's a real restaurant? Just that there's food and something to do," Takuya restated what he had gotten from what his father had told him.

"That's how it always worked for us," Tai noted as he ran a finger round the joint looking for a problem. "But once we started getting more interested in each other we started going to places and doing things that more personal. You know, going places and doing things with less people around."

"More personal, huh?" Takuya pondered the last bit before letting the subject drop as he drifted off into thought while helping his dad fix the sink on autopilot.

* * *

After a drive to the production plant, describing his plans to the development team again for what must have been the tenth time, and a drive back home, Izzy found himself sitting at his 2D-Station; watching as the final percents to completion ticked down.

"About half an hour left," Izzy noted to himself as he opened a new window on the desktop and began working on a side project to pass the remaining time.

Within a few minutes Izzy was so immersed in his little project that he barely noticed the last half an hour slip by. If it hadn't been for the alarm he had set to indicate when the scan was done, he probably would have continued on completely unaware of the flashing, 100% COMPLETE… SCAN FINISHED, at the top of the desktop.

"I kind of thought that last half an hour would drag on," Izzy smiled before reaching out and expanding the scan window, opening a list of options and data. He then highlight and dragged the finished scan with his finger over to a window labeled, RUN FILTER, and dropped it in the center. With a beep the large window changed to a smaller one with a progression bar with, 20 MINUTES REMAINING, posted under it. "While the final filter runs I'll call everyone," he stated before double tapping a phone icon at his desktop and selection the first of the Digidestineds names on the list.

* * *

*DING* *DONG*

The doorbell of the mansion echoed through the halls and was quickly followed by footsteps on the polished wooden floor growing louder with each step. Then, with a creak the door swung open and the night began.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Ishida," Takuya greeted the man on the other side of the door with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Hello, Takuya…" Matt returned the greeting with a suspicious undertone.

For the last hour and half Zoe and Mimi had been in Zoe's room going through her closet, trying to pick out something to wear for some reason. Zoe had seemed very anxious today and now Takuya shows up around dinner time, wearing casual dress attire. All of these facts added up to Matt getting a bad feeling.

"Well, umm…" Takuya stuttered as he tried to find the words. This wasn't a date, but he still had hoped that Matt wouldn't be the one who appeared on the other side of the door when it opened. He would have much rather if have been Zoe or her mom.

"Yeah…?" Matt questioned, the suspicious tone of his voice growing.

"Dad, is that Takuya?" Zoe yelled down from somewhere upstairs.

"Yes," Matt answered back, turning his head so his voice would carry up to her but without taking his eyes off of Takuya.

"Tell him I'll be down in ten minutes," Zoe responded before footsteps overhead could be heard moving away.

"…" Nothing was said between the two at the door and it would have probably stayed that way if Mimi's voice didn't come echoing down.

"Matt invite him in," Mimi ordered, "and be nice," she added with a stern tone.

With a sigh Matt begrudgingly motioned for Takuya to enter, which the teenage boy quickly obeyed. Silently Matt guided Takuya to the living room and pointed to a chair he wanted the boy to sit in. Without a second thought Takuya obeyed and sat down, sinking in a nervous silence.

"None of the others seem to be with you…" Matt noted, finally breaking the quiet few minutes that had settled over the room. "Are you two meeting up with them somewhere else?"

This wouldn't be the first time that Zoe had gone out to eat dinner with her friends. They all actually seemed to get together quite frequently; but tonight something felt somewhat different. Matt never minded his daughter going out to eat with four other boys, but when it was just one of them, he didn't like it.

"No, it's just us!" Takuya quickly blurted out, instantly regretting how eager he sounded to answer the question. "I mean… I'm just buying her dinner to pay Zoe back for the hat," he stuttered to stop any misunderstandings when he saw one of Matt's eyebrows rise in interest.

"Hat?" Matt noted to himself, sending flashes of how Zoe had spent an hour last week looking through a clothing stores selections of hats. He had thought she was looking for a new one for herself, but now that didn't appear to have been the case. _"I was wondering what that was about…"_

"Yeah… I'd show it to you, but, umm, I don't have it with me," Takuya began to ramble uncomfortable under Matt's examining stare. "If I had know I would have brought it, but it didn't really go with these clothes so I left it at home… and, so… uh, yeah…"

After that final, yeah, the uncomfortable silence returned and lasted until footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs.

"_Oh thank god, finally…" _Takuya happily thought to himself, knowing that either Zoe or her mother could at least put an end to the alone time with her scary father.

"Hey," Zoe coyly said as she stepped around the corner. She was wearing a light pink satin dress with a small white jean jacket over it. It wasn't anything too fancy, but it was definitely more… provocative, than what she normally wore.

"You look great, Zoe," Takuya nervously laughed as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Thanks, Takuya," Zoe laughed with a big smile.

"I guess we should get going," Takuya followed up, not wanting to turn around and face Matt.

"Sounds good," she giggled and with a small smile she wrapped her arms around one of his and began leading him towards the front door.

"You two have fun," Mimi called to them from the stairs, smiling as she watched the two walk off.

"Just don't have too much fun… and be back before curfew," Matt added with a serious tone, making Takuya flinch slightly.

Putting the last comment behind them Takuya and Zoe left the house and began walking towards a location only Takuya knew. As they walked they talked like they normally did, trying their best to ignore the strange atmosphere hanging over their words.

"So where are you taking me?" Zoe inquired once they stepped foot into the city.

The city started with just a few small businesses, stores, and apartment buildings between the skyscrapers and government buildings that made up the center and the suburbs that surrounded it. It was a nice city, but according to their parents it wasn't as big as the city that they had grown up in.

"It's a secret," Takuya hummed back with a small smile, knowing that Zoe hated not getting straight answers and secrets that weren't her own.

"A secret, huh?" Zoe turned and playfully glared at him in an attempt to get him to talk. "Come on… just tell me," she followed up with a few pokes to his chest.

"Nope… you'll know when we get there," he smiled back, knowing full well that it would make her want to know even more.

"If we ever make that is. How far exactly do we have to go?" Zoe teased, but she would come to regret how she jinxed herself in that moment.

It took a few seconds after her words for the sound to begin and only a second after that for them to hear it. The sound that filled the air was the pinging of their D-Phones coming to them in stereo.

"…" Silently the two just looked at each other, trying to figure out if they should bother to check. Neither one of them wanted to take the target now, but they also knew two rules could be against them. The first rule was that it was up to the closest of them to the Rift to go; and the second rule was that if the Rift was in the Digital World, Takuya, who was the only one with a Dat-X, was the one who had to take it. If either one of these happened to be the case they would have to make a detour in their plans.

With a heavy sigh Takuya gave in, knowing that it was their responsibility to at least check. He pulled the ringing device from his pocket and opened it, adverting his eyes for a second and hoping that the target wasn't anywhere near them. Finally looking Takuya smiled and let out a happy sigh.

"It's at the old park. Which puts all of the others much closer to it than we are," Takuya smiled. "It looks like JP's the closest to this one… and it appears that he's already on the move," he added when he eyed the tiny yellow symbol of thunder moving towards the blue target radial.

"Good," Zoe happily sighed, placing her hand against her chest in relief.

"You seem really happy that it wasn't us…" Takuya smiled as he looked Zoe in the face and slowly slid the D-Phone back in his pocket. "Are you looking forward to dinner," he teased, hoping to get a bit of a reaction out of her.

For a moment Zoe just glared angrily at Takuya, making him shrink back slightly before a small coy smile curled on her face. Feeling safe Takuya relaxed, but the moment he did Zoe pulled back her arm and punched him in the shoulder, delivering an agitated impact which sent slight twinges up and down his arm.

"Idiot…" Zoe mumbled as she turned away in an attempt to hide the blush spreading across her cheeks.

"Sorry, Zoe," Takuya laughed, rubbing his shoulder to lessen the lingering pain.

Takuya doubted whether any other girls besides from Zoe and his mother would actually be able to hurt him. Zoe had been training along with him and the others to strengthen their bodies for purpose of Spirit Evolution, so she was just as fit as him; however, his mother was a different case. She just seemed to know the perfect place to conk him with her wooden spoon so that it would leave a sore spot. He had no idea how she did it every time, he just knew she could.

"You should…!" before Zoe could finish her response the pinging of their D-Phones cut in once again.

This time the two looked at each other in shock. The D-Phones were once again sending out Rift detection alarms and they only went off once for each Rift; which meant that something was either wrong with them… or another one had been detected.

Takuya was the first to snap himself out of his confused daze and pull out his D-Phone once again. With a pair of lightening fast movements he had it open and the map called up.

"Two Rifts… in two different locations…" Takuya noted in a stunned voice as he turned his head in the direction the second Rift would be opening. The target radial was miles away, but he still felt compelled to peer into the building as if he could see beyond it.

"Koji ran into the same problem a while back… but he thought it might have been just a onetime thing," Zoe noted as she tried to figure out where the Rift was going to appear while looking over Takuya's display.

"I was hoping that as well, but that doesn't seem to be true now…" Takuya sighed as he returned to looking over the map. "It looks like the repeat goes to Tommy," he added when he say the symbol of ice moving towards the location.

"We'll have to make sure and call him once he's taken care of it," Zoe noted as Takuya's phone closed with a snap.

Out of all of them Tommy had done the least amount of solo missions. He lived close to Takuya so it was rare that he beat his older cousin to the chase. The fact that he was also the youngest also played a part in him not getting many targets.

"At least that way we can make sure he's alri…" Takuya didn't get to finish as another alarm sprang up from the D-Phones.

Now the two exchanged looks of worry and surprise. The sounding of a third alarm made their stomachs sink and sent chills of foreboding creeping down their spines. They hadn't even had a chance to put away their D-Phones when the third alarms rang so all they had to do was flip them open.

"Three more!" The two yelp in a shocked unison.

The targets hadn't just jumped up by one this time, but by three, for a total of five coming signals. They were spread around the city and were now to numerable for the two of them to sit out.

"There are five of them now… and two of them are further into the city," Zoe looked up from her own D-Phone and peered off into the direction the two would appear.

"The city…" Takuya spoke with a tone of growing concern. "This is bad… A Rift has never opened in a populated area in the real world before. It isn't something we've ever had to deal with. How the hell are we going to fight in the middle of down town without attracting any attention?"

"This is definitely going to be a problem," Zoe noted in a worried tone as she bit down slightly on her lower lip, trying to figure out what they were going to do to uphold their mission of keeping digimon and the Digital World secret.

"We'll have to figure it out quick because those two are ours," Takuya stated with a determined stare towards the awaiting battlefield before the two charged off.

* * *

"I can't really tell if these meetings are easier to get to or more difficult now that we're adult," Mimi sighed as she let herself fall back on the old couch in Izzy's basement. "On one hand we now have cars and don't have to walk to the meetings, but on the other hand finding the time has become a lot more difficult."

"Not to mention having to explain why we have to go out for hours on end, sometimes for most of the night, to the kids," Kari added with a sigh.

"It was kind of easy for us tonight since Zoe's out on a date with Takuya," Mimi coyly smiled with a small giggle.

"Don't, say anything, Tai," Matt growled when he heard Tai try and muffle a laugh. "You're kid… he's… he's… just," he added in a small rant before sinking back into the chair and tried not to think about what the two could be doing at that moment. "And it's not a date," he insisted as he glared at the group who were all trying to not laugh.

"Okay… if we could focus on the reason why we're here," Izzy interrupted the awkward silence as he struck a final few keys on his D-Station before picking up a small remote and got up from his chair. He took a few steps until he was standing beside the collection of monitor and clicked one of the buttons on the remote, bring the screens to life.

Instantly the screens were filled with lines of code, boxes of data, and 3-D diagrams. It was way too much information for the group to understand let alone take in. Their only hope was that Izzy was planning on making sense of it all for them because he had a bad tendency to become so wrapped up in technology that he would forget that not everyone was as fluent in techno speak as he was.

"This is…?" Tai questioned, bending his head into different angles to see if the change of perspective would help him understand better. Of course it didn't, but trying made him feel better about the situation.

"I guess it's a little complicated," Izzy nervously laughed as he turned back to the screens.

"Trust me, Izzy, complicated is an understatement," Matt teased, glad that Tai had addressed the topic in his own little way.

"Right… I'll try and make it simple," Izzy sighed. It was apparent that he had planned on having a long discussion about everything he had discovered and felt dejected by how everyone seemed to just want him to get to the point.

"If you can," Davis commented before catching an elbow to the gut from Yolei as she shushed him.

"Okay, there are three main points of our search that I've discovered from the data. The first," Izzy noted as he hit a button on the remote and brought up a map of the local area, "from the residual energy readings at the power plant I've confirmed that something of digital origins has been there. This probably means that all of the other signals I've also picked up involved events related to or loosely related to the Digital World."

"I thought you were already sure this involved the Digital World," Cody cut in when a serious issue with what they had been doing for the last month was raised.

"All I knew then, was that it was a signal of digital origins, not whether that had originated from the Digital World or a digimon," Izzy corrected him. "But thanks to the data Tai and I gathered I have proof that both a digimon and an opening to the Digital World occurred there. However, it's how I found the signals that surprised me and brings up the second point."

"Wait, are you saying that you found out that the signals were connected to the Digital World by data you gathered by accident?" Ken jumped on Izzy's statement which made it sound like what they had been investigating had been something completely different.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Izzy replied. "Point two is that the signals my search program original picked up were digital, but didn't originate in the Digital World."

"Where else could digital signals come from if not the Digital World?" Joe inquired when he felt he just had to speak, even if it was just to break the mysterious atmosphere that had fallen over the room.

"I'm not sure, but while my scanner was picking up the unknown digital signal at the power plant it also picked up reading from the Digital World and the residual energy of digimon," Izzy explained.

"So that means what we've been chasing for the last month has actually been this unknown signal and not ones from the Digital World," Sora tried to sum up what was being said to make sure she was understanding right.

"Exactly," Izzy nodded, "It seems that the signals connected to the Digital World are so weak that they are only detectable when the scanners within a few feet of them, but the unknown one's can be detected from many miles away. It seems that Tai and I most have gotten close to a Digital World signal origin while we were unwittingly gathering information on the unknown signal which we thought was the Digital World signal."

"Do you have any idea where these unknown signals are coming from… or what they are?" It was TK's turn to ask the question this time.

"It's strange, but all the data I've gathered points towards a world that definitely seems like a digital world. However, the signals are all wrong," Izzy answered.

"Wrong, how?" Tai further inquired. The whole situation was taking a far different turn than they had been expecting when they had arrived.

"Thanks to the advanced scanning software and hardware I used to gather and examine the signal I was able to see a lot more about it than I original could. And what I found was that the digital energy coming from the signal was too chaotic. The energy being given off by the signal is far too violent and unstructured to have come from a world capable of maintaining digital life," Izzy went on to explain as the pictures behind him switched to different charts of readings with every click of the remote. "Because of this, for lack of a better word, rampaging energy, I'll been calling the unknown signal, the R-Signal."

"The R-Signal, huh?" Mimi repeated the name, trying to see if the moniker fitted the drama of the discovery.

"Yes, and it leads us to my final point of the night," Izzy rejoined.

"Which is?" Davis asked in hopes that Izzy had discovered something that would clear everything up.

"The third and final point is more of a conjecture since I don't have any proof yet, but I believe that everywhere where the R-Signal appears, so does a signal from the Digital World or a digimon. I won't know until I check some of the other locations, but that's what I believe," Izzy stated before switching off the monitors and taking a seat at his computer desk, turning the chair to face the group.

"Why would two separate signals appear together each time?" Yolei pondered aloud to the group, all of whose members had fallen back into quiet contemplation.

For a few minutes silence fell over the house, the hum of the computers being the only audible sound, as the group thought; but with a sudden realization Tai straightened out and turned to his sister. "Kari, that R-Signal you, TK, and Izzy tracked down put you at the edge of a digimon battle, right?" He inquired with a look that told them he might have figured something out.

"Yeah, that Groundramon was there when we arrived… and the other two digimon appeared after it started attacking. If they hadn't shown up when they did, I don't want to think about what might have happened to the houses in the area. I just know it would have been hor…" Kari's voice trailed off as she started to understand what her brother had realized.

"That's what I thought," Tai smiled at his bit of cleverness.

"What?" A few members asked in an attempt to goad him into getting to the point.

"The only reason two signals, from two different worlds, would appear in the same area each time, is if they were fighting each other," Tai smiled bigger when he saw that the others were getting the idea.

"Kind of like how if one country moves it's troops to the border of another country, that country also moves its troops to the border," Ken sited a simple reference to make sure he and everyone else was on the same page.

"But in this case, the digimon that came right after the R-Signal started, literally, attacking the Earth, and the one with the Digital World signal, or at least we seem to think they do, arrived to stop it and protect the Earth. It looks like this might be the classic good verse evil," Tai further explained his thinking.

"We won't really know if that's true unless we find out whether there are also Digital World Signals at each of the R-Signal locations," Matt agreed with Tai's conclusion, but would need more proof if he was going to accept it as fact.

"Getting that proof is what these little creations of mine are going to do," Izzy proudly stated as he pulled a large metal briefcase off of a bookshelf and placed it on the table in the middle of the group.

"What are they?" Cody inquired when Izzy opened the case to reveal twelve white and blue devices.

"They look just like our old D-Terminals," Tai noted as he pulled one of the devices out of the spongy Styrofoam slot it had been secured in and began examining it.

"It's the same kind of interface, but with a whole different purpose," Izzy smiled as he took the one out of Tai's hand, much to the mans annoyance, and popped open the flip screen. "I'll use the rest of the meeting to teach you all how to use them and explain how they will help us get more answers."

Down in Izzy's basement the parents and former Digidestined now move closer to a secret unknowingly shared between generations, in the process discovering a fact that not even the Warriors knew, while above them their children and Legendary Warriors fought to protect a secret they swore to keep hidden from the world. A turning point is quickly approaching.

* * *

To be continued…


	16. Skyscraper Skirmish

**Chapter 16**

**Skyscraper Skirmish**

"Just a few more flights," Takuya yelled back to Zoe as she chased him up the stairs.

"We'd have to pick the one building where the elevator wasn't working," Zoe whined between gasps of air. In the back of her mind she was really glad that she had done all that training with the guys; if she hadn't there was no way she would have been able to clear as many stairs as she had without collapsing from exhaustion.

"Hopefully, that'll be our only bit of bad luck for this fight, because we're going to need all the good luck we can get on this one," Takuya laughed. They both knew that good luck with the current targets would simply mean not letting anyone in the city see the battle or Rifted digimon, but considering the fight would be in the middle of the city, that was going to difficult.

"That'd be nice," Zoe responded, a smile growing across her face when she finally spotted the top of the stairs.

When Takuya reached the door to the roof he reached out and pressed down the steel bar across the middle of the door. The bar sent a metallic click echoing down the stairwell before it gave way with a sharp grind and swung open. A slight wind whipped across the tops of the skyscrapers, bringing with it the chill of the night that was setting in now that the sun had gone down. The sky was dark, which would work in the Warriors favor, and the lights of the city below were enough to allow them to see.

"Good thing we're not afraid of heights," Takuya joked as he looked over the edge of the building to the streets twenty-five stories below.

"Being able to turn into digimon that can fly kind of helps with that," Zoe retorted as she joined Takuya at the edge of the roof. "Do you see the rifts?"

"Not yet, but they should be popping up somewhere out that way at some point," Takuya looked up from his D-tector and pointed out ahead of them. They had made sure to put themselves between the heart of the city and the Rift signals, thinking that they would be able to prevent the Rifted from getting any deeper into the city and if they were lucky, drive the evil digimon out of the city and into one of the unpopulated areas on the outskirts. "Here's another first for us today; Rifts opening in the sky instead of on the ground. I wonder if that means they're going to be flying types."

"It's all so strange," Zoe commented in a distant tone as she looked out over the city. "For three years everything has been the same. A Rift every two or three weeks, and one at a time when they did… but now in the span of a month the order and frequency of everything has gotten out of whack."

"I know…" Takuya turned back to Zoe to find her staring out over the city, her mind somewhere else and her green eyes shining brightly in the lights of the city. "Seventeen Rifted in the last month is a huge jump when compared to the two or three we're used to. But in a way it kind of reminds me of our first adventure in the Digital World. We got into fights almost every single day, granted, than we didn't have to worry too much about our surroundings or getting to the scene in time."

"They did just seem to find us back then, didn't they," Zoe laughed. It was her turn this time to check on Takuya. She found his eyes wandering over the city skyline, unable to concentrate on just one thing. In his eyes she could see the excited fires of his spirit burning as he prepared himself for combat. Four years ago that flame had died down to a flicker after they had tasted the thrill of combat, but once they had gotten their spirits back and given a new task, the fires had returned; and Zoe was glad for that.

"Yeah, having to go to them is kind of a pain, but it's better than them bursting into our homes or school to challenge us to fights," Takuya laughed at the idea of a digimon knocking down the school to get at him. He was sure that it would have resulted in at least a few weeks off. "But it doesn't look like we're going to get the opportunity to reminisce anymore," he added pointing out into the distance.

Zoe followed his finger across the night sky until she found the target of his interest. Hanging in the sky, nearly at the same level as them, was a sparking rift. It's closed surface sending out waves of dull blue light which slowly began to intensify as it prepared to open.

"It really is going to open up in the sky," Zoe commented on another first for the strange new breed of rifts.

"And I think I see the other one opening up a few blocks beyond it," Takuya added, believing the blue light in the distance to be the second rift they were looking for.

"Okay, let's get this over with and back to what I really wanted to do tonight," Zoe growled as she drew her D-tector from her pocket and summoned up her fractal code.

"What you really wanted to do tonight?" Takuya pondered her choice of words.

"…nothing!" Zoe finally answered after a long awkward pause, stepping up to the edge of the building so that her blushing embarrassment was hidden from view. "Shut up. Let's just go," her voice suddenly, and unjustly, turned angry towards Takuya as she gripped her D-tector and brought her fractal code to bear.

"SPIRIT EVOLUTION TO… KAZEMON!" Zoe cheered and a second later the fluttering fairy digimon took to the sky.

"Okay… that was a little weird," Takuya sighed, still slightly stunned from her little outburst; but strangely, somewhere deep down inside her reaction made him smile.

"BEAST SPIRIT EVOLUTION TO… BURNINGGREYMON!" In a small burst of flames the dragon digimon emerged, trying its best not to damage the roof with its sharp claws, flames, and weight.

Before this fight they never had to worry too much about their surroundings. One had no need to worry about abandoned production plants, parks, and lots, but the city was a whole different matter. The smallest nick or dent could end up costing people lots of money to repair; and that wasn't even mentioning the worst of it. Down below the streets and building were packed with people, cars, and other valuable objects that were completely vulnerable from an attack or debris knocked loose from above; and they couldn't forget they had to manage all of that while taking out the Rifted and avoid being seen.

"Remember, we need to try and avoid drawing attention to ourselves," BurningGreymon commented as he stepped up to the ledge where Kazemon was hovering.

"Any idea how we're going to do that? My wind attacks are hard to see, especially at night, but yours on the other hand…" Kazemon rejoined, giving him an unsure glance from under her visor.

"I have no idea… I kept my flames as low as possible when I spirit evolved, but even those tiny flickers lit up the rooftop. And I don't even want to think about how bright Aldamons fires would be," BurningGreymon sighed. He was not looking forward to a fight where he was facing such a staggering handicap. "I might not be able to use any of my fire attacks in this one…"

"That's going to be tough, especially for you; but at least BurningGreymons got a lot of physical power as well, so you can still rely on that," Kazemon tried to reassure Takuya, whose tone of voiced hinted at the fact that he didn't like having his hands tied like they were.

"There is that," he sighed again, feeling somewhat better about the idea that he could still get hands on, even if it did mean the difficult task of getting up close and personal in what was most likely going to be an aerial fight. "I should be able to…!" he cut himself short when the closest rift turned all white and something began to emerge.

What emerged from the rift was a humanoid digimon about the same size as Kazemon. Its body was covered in white feathers. Two thick legs ran down to feet that were a pair of sharp red bird talons; two claws in front and one in back. Around the feet and ankles metal armor had been fitted to protect the exposed flesh when attacking. At the waist a V-shaped silver and gold armored belt had been placed. Tucked into the belt was a red fabric that covered the waist, sunk under a silver and gold chest plate, and ran up the neck of the digimon, only stopping when it was affixed under the silver and gold helmet it wore on its head. Its arms were a set of large white wings, each long feather tipped with a few inches of golden coloring. From behind it a white and gold stripped sash whipped about in the gusts like a long feathered tail. The wings connected to the body under armored shoulder pads attached to the chest plate. Its face looked human in appearance, but the flesh was hard and shiny pink in color, and the eyes were solid jade. Golden fringe ran up the bridge of the nose and connected to the helmet while a long white feather, tipped red at the ends, on either jutted out and up like a pair of long ears.

The moment the digimon emerged it flapped its wings violently and shrieked a terrible, ear piercing, song of freedom and doom.

"A Harpymon…" Kazemon noted, not taking her eyes off of the caterwauling digimon incase it suddenly went on the attack or tried to flee.

"Even without seeing it you can always tell it by how freaking noisy and annoying it is," BurningGreymon moaned as the racket chewed at his ears and improved sense of hearing.

"Anyways, it looks like this one's mine," Kazemon smiled, holding a hand just above her head in a mock size comparison, telling Takuya that she was taking it since they were similar in dimensions.

"You can have her. These dragon ears of mine can't wait to get as far from her as possible," BurningGreymon replied as he and Kazemon began flying towards the battlefield.

The Harpymon quickly took notice of the two's approach and cocked back her wings in preparation of getting in the first attack.

"I think she's spotted us," BurningGreymon laughed, seconds before Harpymon shrieked out an attack.

"WIND SEEKER" The Rifted digimon cried out as it swung its wings forwards and across each other, sending out cutting waves of pressurized air at the two approaching warriors.

"It seems she can't wait to get started," Kazemon smiled as she drew back her right foot. With a bigger smirk she kicked her leg forward, sending out a wave of wind and twisting her body so that her left leg was pulled back. A kick from her left leg followed and sent another gust of wind chasing after the first.

In the middle of the air, the Wind Seeker and the gales of Kazemon's kicks, meet, exploding is concussive blast of pressure, invisible in the night sky and unheard over the bustle of the city below.

"HURRICANE WAVE" Kazemon took advantage of the Harpymon's failed attack to launch one of her own. The tiny twisters waved through the sky and barreled down on the Harpymon, who managed to shake itself free of its surprise in just enough time to fly skyward and avoid the attacks which died out in pink wisps after missing their target.

"She's a quick one," BurningGreymon commented as he began to leave Kazemon's side and make his way to the other opening rift. "Be careful, Zoe," he added, and waited for a replying nod from the girl, before he turned left.

"You be careful too, Takuya," Zoe called after him. She said it more out of reflex to his concern than anything else. Zoe was pretty sure that no matter what they were up against, that Takuya would be perfectly fine, it was her she had to worry about.

"Now, it's just you and me, loudmouth," Kazemon smirked at the agitated Rifted, extending her hand and flexing her fingers, taunting the Harpymon to attack.

The Harpymon quickly accepted by diving at Kazemon who slid into a mid-air fighting pose, planting her feet in the air as if it were solid, and waited for the Rifted to make its attack. With a rush of aerial speed the Harpymon was at Kazemon, but she was ready for it. Kazemon quickly ducked down, allowing the swipe from her enemies wing to pass over her head, and reached out her hand, placing her palm against the her opponents abdomen.

"HURRICANE WAVE" Kazemon cried out, discharging a blast of swirling wind at point blank range.

The twister quickly swallowed up the Rifted and sent it twisting across the night sky until the vortex gave out and deposited the dizzy harpy a city block away. The angry digimon shock its head from side to side in an attempt to make its vision stop spinning, but what it saw once it could see straight again would have made any digimon with thoughts of self-preservation wish they had remained blissfully unaware. Right in front of Harpymon floated Kazemon, who had cleared the distance between them quietly and in the time it took the Rifted to recover.

"Sorry about this, but I'm going to have to make this fight short," Kazemon giggled as she prepared her attack. "ROSEO TEMPORALE"

Kazemon quickly delivered a high speed kick to the Harpymons gut, making it balking in pain and hunch over, hoping the attack was over; but a sudden pain on her right side told her differently. In a split second another kick had been levied against her, and it wouldn't be the last. The two initial hits had only been setting the stage for the new attack. The fairy digimon quickly burst into a flurry of powerful, wind infused kicks, each striking an instant before the next.

"This is over," Kazemon roared as she raised her leg high in an aerial split, preparing to finish the battered Harpymon with a powerful ax kick.

"AHHH!" Kazemon cried out as a sharp pain ran across her back, sending her diving away from the vulnerable spot.

"TWO!" She yelped when she was a safe enough distance away to turn around and look back at the spot; and there, floating beside the first Harpymon was another one.

"Since when has there been two of you," Kazemon growled at the new arrival and the old one which seemed to have shaken off the barrage of kicks and returned to a slightly shaky hover.

"_Did the other one come out of the rift Takuya went after? Could she have possible gotten past him?"_ Zoe questioned, turning to look in the direction BurningGreymon had gone, and quickly got her answer. "Ohh, So not good…"

* * *

"This can't be good…" BurningGreymon groaned at what he saw before him. From the rooftop the second rift hadn't seemed that far away from the first one, but now that he was closer that proved to have just been an optical illusion. The truth was that the rift was four times further away than he had originally expected, but it had looked close since it was four times the size of the first portal.

Large rifts weren't unheard of, but they were rare. The one in the park that Groundramon had come through was probably close to the one Takuya was looking at in the sky now, but this one definitely had to be the biggest one they had ever encountered. The problem was that the size of the rift was usually proportional to the size of the Rifted that was going to come out of it; and if that held true, BurningGreymon would be up against something two or three times bigger than himself.

"It just couldn't be something about the same size as Harpymon. Noooo, when I can't use my fire attacks and we have to fight in almost plain view, it has to be something the size of a passenger plane," Takuya stated aloud to himself, sarcasm and aggravation dripping from each of his words.

As if heaping insult onto misery the rift responded as if it had heard him, by producing the shadowy outline of whatever large digimon was going to emerge. A second later a golden point broke through the white field and Takuya's worries were confirmed.

What came through the rift was a very large bird covered in purple and black feathers. The total wing span of the massive bird was over a hundred feet wide and stirred up gusts of powerful wind with each flap. On the end half of the wings the black feathers extended into a dark purple and doubled in length, like eight long fingers on each. Over the bony ridges of the wings sharp golden armor had been bound to it with buckles and belts; and the middle point where the wings bent sharp golden instruments, three long claw like points circling a longer and thicker cone like point in the center, were affixed. The top of the head and beak of the digimon was covered in a golden helm with a very long crimson feather jetting out the back and all the way down to the tail feathers. Purple feathers covered the long neck and terminated at the shoulders in a mane of soft white feathers. The waist was covered in the same golden armor as the head and ran down to the thick thighs of black feathers. The feet were comprised of purple flesh and ending in long sharp crimson talons on each.

"…A Crowmon… I think…" Takuya groaned, wondering if it was possible for any digimon to be any more conspicuous than the large one staring him down. "But I don't remember the digimon identifier and index saying anything about them getting this big."

"CCAAWWW" The large Rifted squawked and gave a powerful flap of its wings, sending it charging towards BurningGreymon.

"Damn!" BurningGreymon cursed as the wall of air pressure from the simple flap of the birds wings rolled over him. Instantly, he lost stability and was tossed around in the called up currents, but with a powerful flap of his own fiery wings he managed to carve a calm patch of air just in time to see the Crowmon bearing down on him.

"PYRO BAR-" Takuya choked on the last part of his attack. _"The amount of fire power it would take to divert this thing would be like someone setting off fireworks in the night sky. Even if they didn't see the flames they would hear the explosions… and I'm not even sure that I can hit it through the air current it's kicking up. And worst of all, what happens if attacks get knocked towards the street and city."_

Takuya was quickly laid out by his own logic, recovering just in time to brace himself for the Rifted slamming into him. Shifting to the side BurningGreymon aimed for the left wing, digging his claws into the armor running along the ridge. The impact felt like being hit by a truck, but BurningGreymon quickly shook it off and clawed at the wing.

"Let's see if this does anything," BurningGreymon growled, swinging to the underside of the wing, dragging his claws through the feathers, hoping to cut through digital flesh.

Takuya felt his hardened metal claws grinding across steel like feathers and flesh, begging to draw blood, but having no success. Straining his muscles he poured on the pressure and eventually found his talons cutting in a line of torn flesh from the middle of the wing to the back.

BurningGreymons release was followed by a spray of black data and a slight anguished groan and turn from the Crowmon. Once free the Warrior of Flame twisted around and gave a powerful flap of his wings to steady himself, so he could keep his eye on his circling enemy. The Rifted was already banking to the left in an attempt to turn back towards its target.

"That's not going to cut it…" BurningGreymon groaned while rubbing the sore spot where his chest had met the armored ridge of Crowmons wing. "That gash probably wasn't anymore than a paper cut to him. I need to find a way to do more damage without my flames."

In a flurry of gust and a few seconds the Crowmon was back at BurningGreymon, attempting to ram him like before; but this time Takuya choose a different method of dealing with it. This time he let the Rifted get close before he folded in his wings and dropped downward, below the wind currents and the Crowmons charge. He watched as the massive bird sailed by over head, cawing angrily at its missed target, looking for any weakness of sweet spot. A golden chest plate covered the vitals like the heart and lungs, and it didn't appear that the one foot thick armor would be easy to penetrate.

"This is not going my way," BurningGreymon sighed, spreading his wings again and stopping his free fall before giving them a powerful flap and rocketed back into the air. Over the circling Crowmon he went, positioning himself high in the night sky in an attempt to both find a weak spot on the back and get the massive bird higher above the city.

BurningGreymon's eyes raced across his opponent, looking for a place to strike. Within a few seconds the look of disappointment in his eyes turned to one of realization. "Wait… this might actually work, but I'm going to need… KAZEMON!"

He yelped the pixies name when he found her engaged in a one sided battle against two Harpymon. He was surprised to see the new addition to her fight and couldn't help but wonder where the second had come from, but he quickly shook free from such thoughts, knowing that he needed to help her if she was going to help him.

Folding his wings back into a gliding position BurningGreymon dove towards Kazemons location, aiming for the Harpymon that was circling around behind the girl while she dealt with the slashing wings of the other.

"_They're working together!"_ This fact greatly surprised Takuya. They hadn't ever really had a chance to face off against more than one Rifted at a time, but from those they had fought before, they had gotten the general opinion that the Rifted didn't use any kind of strategy or teamwork.

Using the aerial dive BurningGreymon put himself at Kazemons back and caught the second Harpymon by surprise. He wrapped his steel claws around the shocked digimons leg and swung it around in an arch. "KAZEMON!" He yelled as spun around, still clenching the small digimon.

Without even having to turn around Kazemon gave a strong flap of her wings and dropped down a few feet. A second later BurningGreymon's swing flew above her head and slammed the Harpymon he had taken hold of into the one that had been assaulting Kazemon. The two Rifted cawed in pain as they tumbled through the air, their bodies painfully intertwined.

"Thanks," Kazemon smiled, "I just couldn't get a free moment there." As soon as the final word left her mouth she was enveloped in fractal code and emerged as Zephyrmon, "Now let's see how they like this!"

Kicking off of BurningGreymon with a swirled mixture of wind and fire Zephyrmon rocketed into the sky with a powerful burst of speed. Before the two Harpymon could recover she closed the distance between her and her targets. "PLASMA PAWS" She cried, surrounding one of her steel glove covered claws in a red energy. With a roar she drove her razor sharp talons upward and through the stomach of the Harpymon closest to her. She had intended to pierce both digimon by picking a spot where the two digimon bodies were touching, but hearing the first Rifteds cry of pain the second realized what was happening and pushed of its partners back and out of reach of Zephyrmons claws which were jutting out of the middle of the back of the first.

"WIND SEEKER" The Harpymon cried, taking aim at the beast digimon.

Zephyrmon quickly reacted to the slicing waves of air by swinging her arm out and throwing the pierced Haprymon at the coming attack. The Wind Seeker attack slammed into the weakened Rifted, painfully deleting it and ending the attack. The remaining Harpymon quickly prepared to launch another attack, but a smirk from Zephyrmon made it hesitate. A second later a sharp burning pain ran through its head as pressure behind its eyes began to grow.

While the Rifted had been distracted by Zephyrmon, BurningGreymon had snuck up behind it and clamped its hands around its head. Giving an agitated grunt he tightened his claws, using his great strength to crush it head. With no head on its shoulders the headless digimon dropped from his grip and fell out of the sky, bursting into a cloud of date long before it crossed below the rooftops.

"That seemed to work out without any serious incidents," Zephyrmon smiled, glad to be done.

"It's not exactly over…" BurningGreymon awkwardly attempted to explain, his eyes darting away from her gaze.

"What do you mean…?" Zephyrmon questioned before a look of realization spread across her face. "Are you serious? You couldn't beat the Rifted you went up against?" She was amazed by the fact that Takuya might have actually met his match in combat. JP, Tommy, her, and even Koichi had had some close calls in the past, but not Takuya and Koji. They always came away with a decisive and quick victory, but this time seemed different.

"That's not it!" Takuya embarrassedly defended his situation. "If I could go up to Aldamon without worrying about being seen or setting the city on fire I would have ended this fight by now, but…"

Takuya never got to finish his protest as a flash of battle sensation ran through the two of them. Looking up the two found the massive Crowmon diving down at them from above. Thinking fast the two jetted back and out of the way of the black Rifted's deadly charge. The two got out of the way with no time to spare as the wall of black feathers rushed by in a powerful downdraft of gales.

"What the hell! That Crowmon's huge!" Zoe yelped as the two watched the last Rifted pull up to avoid crashing into the roof of a skyscraper and into a glide while it eyed the two.

"I have no idea," Takuya responded, "It might be some kind of mutation or altercation that made it so much bigger than other Crowmon, but that's not what's important right now. If it goes down any further I'll be within the city, so we have to take in down now before it does another dive."

"Right," Zoe agreed. "Any idea how we're going to do that?"

"Yeah, and if we do it right we can keep anyone from seeing it," Takuya smiled as he leaned in closer to Zephyrmon.

The Rifted Crowmon could feel the cool night air rush though its feathers and see the sparkling lights of the city below, but neither of these sensations affected it. It just glided about, looking for its targets. Its single-minded focus on the Warriors destruction was something new. The Rifted normally focused on destroying the things around them, the different Warriors falling into that category when they tried to stop them. The need for destruction had led to some damage to battlefields in the past, but now that wasn't the case. This Rifted could have done some serious damage by now, but was instead choosing to only go after the Warriors, like the two Harpymon had done as well. This felt like a lucky break to the Warriors, but at the same time they felt apprehensive about the meaning of the change.

Out of nowhere Zephyrmon suddenly streaked across the Crowmons line of sight, getting so close that she was able to slash her claws across the surface of Crowmons golden helm; temporarily blinding it with shock and a shower of sparks.

"CCCAAWWW" The Rifted Crowmon shallowly squawked as if tilted in the direction it had seen its opponent fly off in. In the distance it found Zephyrmon gliding over the rooftops and quickly flapped its massive wings, taking off after her with a burst of speed.

With a focused glare the giant Crowmon chased her over the city until they were above a darker and more rundown part of the city. It had once been the city's main street, but when newer, more advanced, districts had been built, it had faded to a collection of closed buildings and oddity shops.

Once Zephyrmon had brought the Crowmon over the center of the area she suddenly wiped around and launched an attack. "HURRICANE GALE" She cried as she sent out multiple pink blades of pressurized air which slammed into the face of the Rifted, startling it into a slowed glide.

Before the Crowmon could regain its composure and cry came up from beneath it followed by a jarring pressure in its gut. "BURNING GREY BASHER" Rocketing up from one of the dark empty rooftops below BurningGreymon delivered his flame infused punch to the stunned digimons stomach. The Crowmon barely reacted to the hit, but when Takuya felt it shudder he knew he was doing something.

"BURNING GREY BASHER" "BURNING GREY BASHER" "BURNING GREY BASHER" "BURNING GREY BASHER"

BurningGreymon unleashed one powerful punch after another to the Rifted's belly, each attack impacting the same spot with violent force, making it painfully spasm with each hit.

"BURNING GREY BASHER" Giving one final hit BurningGreymon grabbed hold of Crowmons feathers and held on tight. "Zephyrmon! Do it now!" He cried out to the girl somewhere off to his side.

"HURRICANE GALE" Zephyrmon cried out from beneath one of Crowmons wings. Summoning up as much power as she could while BurningGreymon kept the Rifted distracted she unleashed an extremely concentrated blast of wind. The swirling tornado of pink hit the curve of the wing, filling it, and throwing the Crowmons balance off, making it begin to roll over. In a matter of seconds the Crowmon was on its back, its stomach turned towards the night sky with BurningGreymon standing triumphantly on its navel; or at least where he expected a naval would be if birds had one.

"BURNING GREY BASHER" BurningGreymon roared, kneeling down and delivering another powerful punch to the Rifteds gut, making it sink further and curl its wings skyward. "Let's end this!" He cheered to Zoe.

"On it," Zephyrmon replied, dropping down and coming to floating position beside BurningGreymon with a smile.

Smiling back in return from under his faceplate BurningGreymon extended his arm out towards Zephyrmon. She then wrapped her arms around his, pulling it against her chest, and resting one hand over his palm and another on the back of it. Holding herself in place the two summoned up their power and launched their attacks.

"BURNING GREY BASHER" "PLASMA PAWS" The two attacks surge forth and quickly combined creating an attack of amplified power with BurningGreymons raw strength and Zephyrmons precision sharpness.

Together they drove the attack down in what could only be described as a practiced unison, despite it being the first time they had ever used such an attack method. The combined attack tore through feathers and seared through digital flesh until it created an opening. The moment the initial attack was finished the two quickly followed it up with what they hoped would be the killing blow.

"WILDFIRE TSUNAMI" "HURRICANE GALE"

BurningGreymons Wildfire Tsunami had been unusable since the start of the fight due to the fact that it was so flashy and wide range that it would attract way too much attention; but thanks to Zephyrmon that could be controlled and focused. Before BurningGreymons attack could spread out it was instead drawn into her twister and forced down into the hole that their previous attack had created.

In a raging tornado of flame, obscured from below and the sides by Crowmons own body and wings, poured into the wound, burning up its insides with white hot intense heat. After a few seconds they saw the light go out of the Rifteds eyes, telling them that its life had ended, but they didn't stop their attack. They knew it took some time for a digital body to breakdown and with its size and how close it was to the city already it would never delete fast enough to not crush a building or two.

With twin roars and pouring on the power the two Warriors increased their attack, flooding more and more of Crowmons lifeless body, trying to accelerate it degradation. Seconds tick by as the massive body fell closer to the city below. Soon there was only seconds before it would come into contact with the first building.

"Come on! Burst!" Takuya cried, forcing his flames down.

The final push did the trick as he and Zoe felt the body shift and the solidity breakdown. A second later the body exploded in a torrent of black bits that enshrouded the Warriors and building below. The digital flood poured down the building and cascaded down an empty street before vanishing completely in the blink of an eye; leaving Takuya and Zoe standing victoriously on the roof, their battle done for the night.

* * *

"Sorry Zoe, this isn't really what I had planned for tonight…" Takuya tiredly sighed as he took a slice of pizza from the box he and Zoe had picked up after the fight. The two were now sitting on the ledge of a skyscraper back in the main part of the city, their feet dangling over the edge as they watched the people in the streets below. "I had something a lot better set up, but with those Rifted showing up we completely missed it… I was going to take…"

Before Takuya could finish Zoe placed a finger over his lips and smiled at him, "Don't ruin the surprise. Save it for next time. And anyways, this is really nice." She then took a bite of her slice and playfully kicked her feet over the edge, excited by the situation and getting something in her stomach. Fighting as digimon ate through a lot of calories and after each one she was always starving.

"I'm glad you're enjoying it," Takuya smiled back before taking a large bite of his piece. "Wait? Next time?"

"Yep," Zoe chirped, "This is just a meal to replenish our strength and not the diner you promised me, so you're going to have to make it up to me some other time."

"Hmmm," Takuya pondered whether her words were good luck or bad, but he did know they made him happy. "I guess we'll just have to do that," he added before taking another bite of pizza.

"Takuya, pass me a…" Zoe was quickly cut off by the ringing of Takuya's cell phone. It was a ringtone she was familiar with; Koji's favorite song and assigned ringtones on all of their phones.

For a few moments Takuya let it play its song as his eyes remained fixed on the city below. Eventually, Zoe began to worry that he wasn't going to answer it, either by choice or because he wasn't hearing it.

"Takuya, it's Koji," Zoe remarked, pointing towards his pocket. When she looked up for confirmation that he had heard her she found him still staring intently down to the streets. "Takuya…?" She questioned him as she traced his line of sight downward, quickly finding what had captivated his attention.

Down below them on the streets the people had all stopped moving. It wasn't that they were frozen in place or held by some mysterious power. No, every man, woman, and child were each staring at something so intently that it had completely captivated them, stopping them in their tracks. The people were either looking into the displays of their cell phones or television screens in shop windows, watching as something played on all of them.

"What the…?" Zoe whispered to herself as she forgot about Takuya's ringing phone and tried to figure out what was happening.

"I don't…" Takuya attempted to say but didn't finish when he apparently became aware of the sound his phone was emitting.

His hand dove into his pocket just as Zoe reached into her own. They removed their phones at the same time, but while Takuya just stared at the display, Zoe quickly brought up the internet on hers. Her fingers quickly danced across the keyboard and brought up a news thread. She had chosen a recently created one, only a minute old, and jumped to the top to find what everyone seemed to be hastily discussing. At the top was a playing video that made her heart skip a beat.

"It's Koji…" Takuya whispered to himself as he prepared to hit the answer button, but before her could Zoe called out to him nervously.

"Takuya!" Zoe yelped, pushing her cell phone between his eyes and his own.

"What is…" Takuya trailed off when he finally saw what everyone below them was seeing.

"This can't be… can it?" Zoe asked, her voice sinking with every syllable.

Without answering her Takuya ran his finger across the volume bar, raising it to the max so he could hear what was being said.

"What you are seeing is real…" A raspy voice narrated the images on the screen. "Have you all forgotten because of the passage of time? Have you forgotten that these things do exist because it was easier to do so?"

"Who the hell is doing this?" Takuya tightened his fingers around his cell phone.

Playing on the tiny screen was a recording caught from a video camera, but it wasn't the normal kind of video one could find littering the net. It was video of a specific targets caught in very specific actions. The video showed digimon, most likely Rifted attacking the real world. Attacking the real world wasn't exactly the best description because they were actually focusing their attacks on something that was attacking back.

"It's KendoGarurumon!" Zoe yelped the metal wolf was shown dodging an attack and launching one of his own in retaliation.

"And MetalKabuterimon!" Takuya added when the image changes to the warrior of thunder battling a larger green digimon.

"These things exist in your world, but come from somewhere… have you forgotten where that place is?" The raspy voice returned as the image changed again to video of BurningGreymon and Zephyrmon fighting Crowmon above the city.

The video played for another few minutes before finally ending with Crowmons death and BurningGreymon and Zephrymon vanishing somewhere into the city horizon. The only relief the two could take from the whole thing was that the camera positions looked fixed while they were filming, so it shouldn't have captured any of them transforming since they only went in and out in secluded places.

"Damn, this has to be what Koji was calling about," Takuya stared blankly at the screen before pushing it away and activating his own. The first message on the screen was a missed call notice which Takuya planned to select before his phone began to ring with a familiar mysterious tone.

"Is that?" Zoe questioned, leaning over to look at the display. Something about the ringtone made it impossible to forget despite her having only heard it once.

"Yeah…" Takuya responded, his finger hovering over the answer speaker button.

After giving Zoe a look that told her to be quiet he answered the phone on speaker mode and waited for the voice to come. "Are you there?" Takuya questioned the quiet; like every time before there was a long silence before the voice finally responded.

"…Are you safe…?" The voice questioned, showing concern for the recipients wellbeing.

"Of course," Takuya smiled at the phone in a confident voice, "There isn't a digimon yet that can take be down."

From the outside Zoe couldn't help but wonder when Takuya's attitude towards the phone calls had changed. When they had first started he had been confused and maybe a bit angry at whomever was on the other end; but now, he almost acted familiar and friendly with them. Thinking back though, she could remember that Takuya had never been concerned about who was calling him, but by the mystery behind it. It was like watching somebody slowly reclaiming a lost connection.

"…That's good… I'm sure you did great…" The voice responded, a slight happy laugh evident in its tone.

"However, I don't think checking on us is the whole reason you called, especially after what just went out over the net," Takuya's voice became serious with the change of topic. "Do you know anything about this?"

"…they want everyone to know…" The voice answered.

"Know what?" Takuya inquired further.

"…I'm not sure yet…" The voice continued, "…but I hope to find out… Until then, be safe… please…"

Without giving Takuya a chance to respond the called ended, leaving him staring at his inactive phone. In a tired sigh Takuya slipped the phone back into his pocket and tried to forget what had just happened so he could enjoy what peace remained of the night.

"I wonder what all of this is heading towards?" Zoe pondered aloud, looking to Takuya for some comforting response.

"I don't know, Zoe… but we'll figure it out," Takuya rejoined, lifting the pizza box up to her and jiggling it slightly; enticing her to take a slice with a crooked smile.

"Idiot…" Zoe sighed, "Or maybe I'm the bigger idiot because hearing that actually made me feel better."

Sharing a small laugh the two finished off the pizza under the starry sky, not knowing the intense storm that was growing across both worlds.

* * *

To be continued…


	17. First Reactions

**Chapter 17**

**First Reactions**

_*TheTruthIsOutThere1000*_

= Has started thread: Monster Fight Video: Fact or Fiction =

_*StarStruck*_

= Has joined thread =

_*B-Movie*_

= Has joined thread =

_*I'mTheOne*_

= Has joined thread =

_*AbilityUnknown*_

= Has joined thread =

_*TheTruthIsOutThere1000*_

- Okay, did all of you see that video last night?

_*StarStruck*_

- Yeah! It was so cool! XD

_*I'mTheOne*_

- Yes…

_*AbilityUnknown*_

- Wouldn't be here if I hadn't.

_*B-Movie*_

- There are a lot of monster fight videos out there… which one are we talking about exactly? Is it from the new Godzilla move coming out next year?

_*StarStruck*_

- Are you being serious…? XO

_*AbilityUnknown*_

- Really…

_*B-Movie*_

What's wrong…?

_*TheTruthIsOutThere1000*_

- We're talking about the video that went out over the internet and TV last night. Where were you?

_*StarStruck*_

- Yeah, it showed real monsters fighting each other!

_*I'mTheOne*_

- We don't know that for sure.

-It actually sounds pretty ridiculous when you say it out loud.

_*StarStruck*_

- How can you not believe?

_*I'mTheOne*_

- Come on… Monsters don't really exist… right?

_*TheTruthIsOutThere1000*_

- That's what we're here to discuss?

_*B-Movie*_

- You're all just messing with me, right?

_*AbilityUnknown*_

- No, we're being serious.

_*TheTruthIsOutThere1000*_

- I'm posting the link to the file share of the video at the top. Check it out and come back.

_*B-Movie*_

- Okay, thanks. I'll be back.

-Sorry for the interruption…

_*B-Movie*_

= Has left the thread =

_*TheTruthIsOutThere1000*_

- Lets continue.

_*AbilityUnknown*_

- Where do you want to begin?

_*TheTruthIsOutThere1000*_

- Let's start with what everyone's opinion of what we saw last night.

-I think we'd all like to know where each of us stands with the authenticity of the video. I for one feel that the video is real.

_*StarStruck*_

- Same. XD

*I'mTheOne*

- I'm thinking that this is some kind of internet hoax.

_*TheTruthIsOutThere1000*_

- Do you care to elaborate? Discussing these kinds of points is why we're here.

_*I'mTheOne*_

-Come on. Somebody just happened to get their hands on or shot all of this video and then release it all in a very ambiguous way.

-I wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be some viral marketing ploy.

_*StarStruck*_

- A marketing scheme for what? Giant Monster B-Gone Spray?

_*I'mTheOne*_

- I don't know.

-But there are plenty of instances of weird internet videos out there dedicated to getting us interested in products that have nothing to do with the content of what was shown.

-So I'm saying it wouldn't surprise me if that was the case here.

_*TheTruthIsOutThere1000*_

- That's a good point.

-With all of the CG and photo altering technology out there you can never be too sure of what you're seeing. The line between visual proof and what can be faked in media has greatly blurred over the years.

-What about you, AbilityUnknown, where do you weigh in on this?

_*AbilityUnknown*_

- I'm saving my final opinion until we discuss this a little more. I've never been the type to make decisions until I have enough facts.

_*TheTruthIsOutThere1000*_

- Right, that is why we're here isn't it.

_*B-Movie*_

= Has joined thread =

_*TheTruthIsOutThere1000*_

- Welcome back. What did you think?

_*B-Movie*_

- I really have no idea what to say… They're unlike any movie monsters I've ever seen…

_*StarStruck*_

- So, where do you come in on our discussion?

_*B-Movie*_

- Hold on. I'm reading the back log to see what I missed.

_*BlazeKicker*_

= Has joined thread =

_*StarStruck*_

- Welcome, BlazeKicker! XD

_*BlazeKicker*_

- Thanks, I couldn't resist when I saw the topic.

_*TheTruthIsOutThere1000*_

- It's a good one, isn't it; so much mystery with every aspect of it.

-By the way, you do know what monster fight we're talking about, right?

_*BlazeKicker*_

- Yeah, the one from last night. I watched it when it was going out live last night, but now I just can't figure it out.

_*TheTruthIsOutThere1000*_

- Good, that's why we're here. To figure this whole incident out now that everyone's had a night to think about it.

_*StarStruck*_

- At least you joined knowing what we came here to talk about. ;)

_*B-Movie*_

- Hey!

_*StarStruck*_

- XP

- I guess you just caught up, huh?

_*B-Movie*_

- I'm sorry that I had better things to do last night than watch some grainy footage.

-Something like working.

_*StarStruck*_

- XP

_*TheTruthIsOutThere1000*_

- Stop it you two! You're both making a mess of this thread.

_*B-Movie*_

- Sorry

_*StarStruck*_

- Yeah, sorry T-T

_*I'mTheOne*_

- …

_*StarStruck*_

- Getting back on topic. What's your opinion of the video?

_*B-Movie*_

- I think it's real, but that might be wishful thinking on my half since I've always wanted monsters to be real. It would just make the world so much more interesting.

_*StarStruck*_

- Who asked you? -_-

- I was talking to BlazeKicker!

_*AbilityUnknown*_

- Don't start again you two!

_*BlazeKicker*_

- I'm with AbilityUnknown on this. I want to talk about it more before I make any decisions.

_*AbilityUnknown*_

- Nice to know I'm not alone on wanting to hear everything out first.

_*BlazeKicker*_

- If I might, can I direct the talk back towards what you were all talking about when I came in? You were kind of hitting on something I was wondering about.

_*InternetManiac *_

= Has joined thread =

_*Old_School_Pineapple*_

= Has joined thread =

_*FlashWolf*_

= Has joined thread =

_*StarStruck*_

- Welcome!

_*I'mTheOne*_

- You mean about what the purpose of the video might have been?

_*BlazeKicker*_

- Sort of. The reason I choose this backroom thread instead of a mainstream one was because I was told that the people here are pretty good at putting facts together and have a lot of online connections.

-I gathered that what I would be able to discuss here would be more meaningful than the repeated garbage everyone else is posting online right now.

_*Old_School_Pineapple*_

- Same.

_*TheTruthIsOutThere1000*_

- You didn't have to pour on the compliments like that to get the subject discussion you wanted. You just had to say what you wanted to talk about, but I'm not going to complain. XD

-This is definitely one of the most connected underground message boards. So what way did you want to take this?

_*BlazeKicker*_

- I wanted to take it in a slightly different direction than what I'mTheOne suggested. I want to know what kind of effect this video is having on the world as a whole… You know what I mean?

_*TheTruthIsOutThere1000*_

- I'm not completely sure what you mean…

_*FlashWolf*_

- I think he's asking if you all know how the video has affected communities and the way people are reacting.

-I think we've all seen how a lot of the people who believe the video's real are acting all panicked and out of sorts. I just came from a chat room where they were treating this like some kind of omen to the end of the world.

_*BlazeKicker*_

- Yeah, what FlashWolf said.

_*Old_School_Pineapple*_

- Things are getting pretty weird online recently…

_*Internet Maniac *_

- Exactly.

-There are already people out there trying to sell monster insurance.

_*B-Movie*_

- That's really messed up… but I can see the draw of it.

_*Old_School_Pineapple*_

- However, to understand that, we'd have to figure out why someone posted the video in the first place.

-Someone obviously went through a lot of trouble to get it on every media source last night. Even a few minutes of that would take a lot of work and planning.

-Not to mention ability and resources. They had to be skilled.

_*BlazeKicker*_

-How skilled?

_*Old_School_Pineapple*_

-Very skilled.

-The multiple video posts online wouldn't have taken much skill, except for the fact that the thousands of videos were all posted at the same time; which would have required a lot of resources to get done. Or many posters.

-The part that would have required a lot of skill was simultaneously hacking every big news and media source at the same time.

_*FlashWolf*_

-Does that mean that the media didn't run the video themselves? I thought they were all just trying to scoop each other.

_*TheTruthIsOutThere1000*_

-I know a little about that.

-I know someone who works over at one of the major broadcasting stations in Tokyo and they told me that they spent the whole time that the video was playing trying to cut it off.

-However, despite all of their work they couldn't stop it from going out.

_*Internet Maniac *_

-Really?

-I wonder if it's the same for every station out there that was broadcasting the video last night.

_*TheTruthIsOutThere1000*_

-It would seem that way.

-It's kind of impressive that someone, or more likely an organization, out there has that kind of ability.

_*FlashWolf*_

-I don't know if impressive is the best word, especially if their motives aren't pure.

_*Old_School_Pineapple*_

-I'm with FlashWolf on this one.

-Hacking like this to broadcast what they did doesn't seem like they were being driven by the most positive of ideals.

_*BlazeKicker*_

-So you think it might have been malicious as well?

_*Old_School_Pineapple*_

-I can't be completely sure, but when you look at it I can't find any way this could help.

_*StarStruck*_

-Okay, things just got a little scary… T^T

-But couldn't they just have wanted people to know what's out there?

_*I'mTheOne*_

-You mean like warning us to get ready for an invasion by giant fighting monsters?

_*B-Movie*_

-Dude, don't knock it.

-It's the classic movie and anime plot when the world comes under attack.

_*Internet Maniac *_

-However, just like you said. That's movies and anime and this is real life.

-Stuff like that doesn't happen in real life.

_*AbilityUnknown*_

-Actually…

_*BlazeKicker*_

-Actually, what?

_*AbilityUnknown*_

-It's something I heard a while ago…

_*StarStruck*_

-What did you hear? *=*

_*AbilityUnknown*_

-It's mainly rumors and they come from like 30 years ago, but I've heard mention of creatures like these appearing before. From the way people talk, what we saw in the video last night sound very akin to what appeared 30 years ago.

_*I'mTheOne*_

-No way…

_*TheTruthIsOutThere1000*_

-I heard those rumors too, but it looks like you beat me to discussing them. So instead I'll just add to them.

-Those strange reports of monsters came out of a city here in Japan called Odaiba.

_*StarStruck*_

-Really! O.O

-I don't live that far from Odaiba!

_*BlazeKicker*_

-Odaiba… really…

_*FlashWolf*_

-Yeah, interesting…

_*BlazeKicker*_

-If that kind of thing happened so close by, why haven't we heard anything about it?

-You'd think something like that would be talked about even today; at least around the city.

_*TheTruthIsOutThere1000*_

-I know, isn't it strange. You can't find a single person who actually saw anything, but there are so many rumors that are the same that if feels like it had to have happened.

-And that's not all. A few years after those incidents in Odaiba, sightings around the world sprang up.

_*B-Movie*_

-No way! The world! O_o

_*Internet Maniac *_

-There's just no way. If that were true people would be bringing it up now, especially after the video came out.

_*BlazeKicker*_

-Yeah, even if people had stopped talking about it where did all of the accounts go? There's no way people didn't get pictures or blog about it. Or the news report on it.

_*TheTruthIsOutThere1000*_

-That's a really good question.

-There are claims that anything having to do with the incidents disappeared one day.

-It was like someone erased every bit of digital proof… and people's memories of it all faded as well…

_*I'mTheOne*_

-How could somebody do that? Is that even possible?

_*BlazeKicker*_

-All digital information? And memories? Could that be possible…

_*FlashWolf*_

-It would be impossible for someone on this side… but it might be possible from the other…

_*Old_School_Pineapple*_

-What are you two talking about?

_*BlazeKicker*_

-It's nothing…

_*Old_School_Pineapple*_

-Share.

_*BlazeKicker*_

-Sorry, got to go.

_*BlazeKicker*_

= Has left the thread =

_*FlashWolf*_

= Has left the thread =

_*StarStruck*_

-That was a little weird. :s

_*B-Movie*_

-Yeah.

_*AbilityUnknown*_

-I wonder if they found what they were looking for?

* * *

With a curious look Takuya closed out his laptops web browser and leaned back in his desk chair, staring up into the white ceiling. Releasing an annoyed sigh he reached out and picked up his cell phone and held it up over his head so he could read the display as he worked. However, before he could hit the first button it began to ring and Koji's name popped up.

"Hey," Takuya yawned into the mouth piece.

"What? Am I boring you already?" Koji joked on the other end.

"No, just too much time behind a computer," Takuya yawned again, rubbing his eye's weary from hours of staring at a computer screen, with his free hand. "But it looks like my time paid off with finding that chat room. Good thing I called you to join."

"It does seem that way," Koji agreed, knowing that on the other end Takuya was probably smiling proudly at his own lucky achievement.

"So about that thing with Odaiba… Do you really think it's about digimon?" Takuya inquired, leaning forward in his chair and his tone turning serious.

"I'm not sure. I've never heard any talk of digimon before the Rifts started opening; let alone anything about them appearing in Japan or around the world. We need to research this," Koji answered, the tone in his voice shifting slightly deeper as he pondered the idea.

"But with no information online or in the media," Takuya noted wondering about how they planned to proceed.

"Yeah, which is a mystery in of itself. One whose cause I'm thinking might be tied to the Digital World," Koji added with a hint of annoyance. He and Takuya didn't like the fact that the human and digital world might have met before and then everyone just forgot. It sounded very suspicious to the protectors of both worlds.

"Even from that side is it possible?" Takuya questioned, hoping that Koji had an idea.

"I have no idea, but anything's possible at this point; but you're right about not having a place to start our research," Koji admitted with a tired sigh.

"Actually, I think we might know where to start. They said that all of the digital information vanished, but someone's still keeping the rumors alive. And like they say…" Takuya didn't get to finish as Koji took over.

"If you want the truth, go to the source," Koji said. "And tomorrow's Saturday, so if we leave early we'll have the whole day to check it out."

"I'll call the others, explain what happened, and set it up. Do you think you could work on figuring out the best way there," Takuya countered.

"Sure, but the best way will probably be the light rail," Koji rejoined.

"Okay, figure out which one we have to take and call me back with a time and place to tell the others. Night," Takuya yawned as he waited for a final response from his friend.

"Right, I'll get on it. Night," with that the two hung up.

After another tired yawn Takuya got up and walked over to his bed. He dropped down on the middle of it and buried the back of his head in the pillow and for a moment listened to the purring next to him. Letting out a slight laugh he reached up and stroked Gatomons fur as she slept on his second pillow in a curled up ball. He continued to pet her until his phone beeped, indicating a text had arrived.

FROM: KOJI

TOMORROW, 7:00 AM, SHIBUYA LIGHT RAIL STATION 28, TRACK 6.

It was a short message from Koji containing the place and time where the train they needed would leave. Having the information he needed Takuya smiled and lifted up his cell phone and went to the first number he could think of. He hit enter and the phone rang twice before someone picked up.

"Hey, Takuya," Zoe's chirped into the phone happily, making Takuya smiled.

"Hey, Zoe," he greeted back.

"So what's up?" Zoe pondered with a friendly tone.

"Koji and I found a lead that we want to follow, so tomorrow we're all heading to Odaiba."

* * *

To be continued…


	18. Home Again: Part 1

**Chapter 18**

**Home Again: Part 1**

"Six-fifteen in the morning…" Takuya groaned from the bench outside the train station. He had been worried about missing the seven a.m. meeting time and ended up over compensated, arriving at a quarter before six, making him the first person to arrive, but also leaving him to wait for half an hour already.

Behind him a domed building of glass and metal work rose up against the sunrise. Running down the middle of the building were a few single rail sets of tracks with a canopy of tinted glass covering them just outside the building. This was the one of the few stops in the area for the light rail train system that ran around Japan.

"It does seem strange that you're the first one here; but on the other hand the others were probably smart enough to realize that nearly an hour early was too soon to arrive," the voice of Gatomon leaked out of the red backpack beside Takuya.

"You know, I think you intended that to be a compliment, but it just came out like an insult," Takuya looked down despairingly at the cats eyes looking up at him through the open zipper of the bag.

"Funny how that happened… Hey, that's not nice!" Gatomon's sarcasm turned to annoyance when Takuya pushed the red bag away from him to the other side of the bench with a satisfied smile. "Is it too early for teasing?"

"Yes, yes it is," Takuya answered with a laugh mixed with a yawn.

Twenty minutes later, at around six-thirty-five, the two's back and forth discussion became three when a cool voice cut in over Gatomon's third complaint about Takuya asking if he could use the bag with her in it as a pillow.

"Wow, will wonders never cease. Takuya arriv…" was all Koji got out before Takuya cut him off.

"Shut up. I'm here early, so I shouldn't have to listen to some snarky comment from you in compensation," Takuya growled as he rolled his eyes.

"So you been here long," Koji didn't say it, but it appeared that he agreed and changing the subject seemed to be is consent to Takuya's proposal.

"No, not that long…" Takuya nervously drew out his words, trying to not let Koji know he had arrived far too early.

"Fifty minutes," Gatomon mixed in with a fake cough, fooling no one.

"That's just sad. Either late or way too early, you just can't seem to get your timing down," Koji laughed as he watched Takuya angrily stare at the red bag before pushing it to the very edge of the bench, getting it as far from him as he could.

"Takuya?" Gatomon spoke his name in a questioning manner.

"Yeah, Gatomon," Takuya responded with a sigh.

"Did you just briefly consider the idea of pushing me completely off of the edge of the bench?" Gatomon responded in a concerned voice when he acknowledged her.

"Yes, but I fought the urge to do it," he replied with a cool tone.

"Thank you for resisting," she honestly applauded his restraint.

"No problem," he answered before craning his neck back and watching Koji shake his head in disappointment. "So, should we go get the tickets?"

"Sure, we can get reimbursement from the others later," Koji agreed as he looked for the ticket booth.

"And here I was hoping that you were paying," Takuya sighed in disappointment as he kicked his legs out and launched himself up from the bench and onto his feet.

"Like I'd ever buy you anything," Koji laughed at the idea as the two began to walk towards a small ticket booth on the far end of the platform.

"Hey, you're not leaving me here alone, are you?" Gatomon yelped, reminding them that she was but a lonely bag left on a bench.

"We'll be right back," Takuya replied with a teasing smile that couldn't be seen by the bags occupant.

"What if someone steals me?" Gatomon protested back.

"That would be interesting. I'd almost feel sorry for the thief. Can you imagine what it would be like when he ducks into some back alley and opens the bag to find you in there? That would be quite a painful lesson," Takuya's teasing smile grew bigger as the tone of concern grew deeper from Gatomon.

"What happens if they don't open me right away? What happens if they toss me into a crate and export me in some horrible counterfeit bag scheme overseas?" Gatomon whined as the bag began to shake.

"Is she becoming the bag?" Koji leaned over and whispered when he noticed all reference to her and the bag being separate entities had stopped.

Takuya let out a small laugh at Koji's comment before returning to Gatomon's concern. "You'll be fine. I can always get a new bag."

"That's not the point here," Gatomon barked back.

"Fine… I guess you're a bit harder to replace than my bag," Takuya mocked surrender as he returned to the bench and picked up the red bag; inside it he could hear the feline digimon sigh in relief.

The two boys then made their way to the ticket counter, but Koji had one question before they got there. "Overseas counterfeit bag scheme?"

"Apparently my mother watches the fashion network on television after I head to school and leaves it on that channel, so when Gatomon turns it on, that's what she sees. It's led to some weird stuff," Takuya sighed.

"The fashion network?" Koji leaned back and gave Gatomon a questioning look through the opening in the zipper.

"Yeah, the on buttons pretty big, but the channels up and down buttons are pretty small on that remote. With clawed gloves hitting them is no easy task, so I just stick with what's on," Gatomon retorted.

"Wouldn't you rather watch something else other than human fashion shows?" Koji continued to inquire, showing a strange interest in the small digimon's television choices.

"Like what?" Gatomon questioned back.

"I don't know…" Koji paused for a moment while he thought before coming back with, "The Animal Planet."

His suggestion earned him an annoyed grunt from the digimon and a stifled laugh from Takuya.

"Takuya…" Gatomon growled as he fought the urge to laugh. "You better set him straight."

"Fine…" Takuya drooped his head and sighed before turning towards Koji and lifting it back up, rolling his eyes as he did. "Gatomon is a multifaceted digimon with great depth; and despite her cat like looks and animalistic nature she is in no way related to beings we call animals, with their instinct driven nature and inability to think beyond the realm of genetic encoding. So to that end, she takes no pleasure in watching such programming she considers demeaning to her appearances relation. On that note, she enjoys the World News program and tastefully written sitcoms," he belted with all of the luster of someone who was being forced to read a rehearsed speech against their will.

"Okay…" Koji blankly stared at Takuya, trying to figure out where the intelligent argument had come from.

Giving a cautionary look over his shoulder to the bag before leaning in close to Koji, Takuya answered his friends questioning gaze in a whisper. "I suggested one animal show about loins and other big cats we could watch, and I was treated to twenty minutes of her telling me that."

It became Koji's turn to stifle a laugh, not wanting to laugh at his friend's expense since he had been kind enough to share. That and the fact that they had reached the ticket counter. Behind the metal desk and reinforced safety glass sat a middle-aged man with black hair jutting out from beneath a blue railway cap that all employees working along the line wore and a pair of round frame glasses. He seemed half asleep as he stared at the two teens that were waiting for him to acknowledge their presence in some way; even a blink of the eyes would have been enough. It seemed that six-forty in the morning was a busy time during the week, but on the weekend he probably didn't expect many customers and had fallen into a light sleep.

The two Warriors quickly grew tired of waiting for the man to wake up on his own, so in an unplanned unison the two kicked the sides of the booth, rattling it and startling the man awake. He came to life with a surprised and wild grunt that was half snore and half yelp, and sent his glasses sliding across the metal counter with a bewildered slap to the face which had probably original been an attempt to block an imaginary perceived attack to his face.

"Rise and shine," Takuya remarked as the man blankly stared at them; almost like he was still half asleep.

"Six tickets to Odaiba," Koji requested, doing his best to pretend that he respected the elder behind the counter who had fallen asleep in front of two customers.

"Six tickets," the man parroted back as he hit a few keys on the keyboard before him and the price popped up on a small computer screen facing the two. It seemed that the man was too lazy to even read off of the price to them.

Glancing at the price Koji pulled out his wallet and removed a few bills from it. Next to him, Takuya did some quick math and figured out how much of the bill was a sixth and handed his share to Koji who paid for everyone else. They had both come to the natural conclusion that Koji would have a much easier time remembering to get his money back from the others. Taking the money the man slipped it into the cash drawer and hit a few more keys, making the machine spit out six tickets which he handed to Koji.

"I guess we just have to wait for the others to…!" Takuya didn't get to finish when he was taken by surprise by it suddenly becoming dark.

"Hey, Zoe," Koji yawn a greeting somewhere in the dark Takuya had found himself in.

"You ruined it, Koji," Zoe growled, but didn't remove her hands from over Takuya's eyes.

"Takuya's stupid, but not stupid enough to not know it's you," Koji retorted.

"If he knows it's me, then why doesn't he move my hands from over his eyes," Zoe argued back.

"I don't know. Let's ask him. Takuya, why aren't you removing her hands," Koji posed the question, knowing that Takuya probably had a good reason.

"You know Koji, it could be a lot of things, but I'm willing to bet it has to do with the fact that while she's covering my eyes she's also pressing her chest into my back," Takuya answered with a sly smile.

"TAKUYA!" Zoe roared as she jumped back and crossed her arms defensively over her chest while a deep crimson spread across her face.

"Soft," Takuya slyly smiled at her while Koji let a few stray laughs escape his cool demeanor.

"Shut up!" Zoe barked back, trying to figure out how she should feel about what had just happened and Takuya's happy reaction to it.

"Why do we want Takuya to shut up so early in the morning?" Koichi's chuckled as he walked up on the three.

"They're having intimacy problems," Koji responded, making Takuya laugh and angering Zoe more.

"Ah," Koichi smiled, wishing that he had been a bit earlier. "Those the tickets?"

"Yeah, seven-o-clock, track three," Koji replied as he handed the two new arrivals their tickets.

"So we're just waiting on Tommy and JP," Koichi remarked as he looked around the area for any sign of the remaining two members.

"Yeah, but knowing those two they'll be here soon. We should probably wait around the entrance for them so they don't buy any more tickets," Takuya responded, pointing to a set of benches near the entrance, but far enough away from foot traffic that Gatomon would be able to talk again.

By six-fifty the remaining two Warriors had arrived and the group had moved to track three. The train arrived right on time and they boarded. They sat in the back and settled in for the short trip to Odaiba; the home town of their parents and grandparents. Thanks to the speed of the modern train they arrived ten minutes later at the Odaiba main terminal and disembarked.

"Now that we're here, does anyone have any idea where we should start this investigation of ours?" JP questioned as he looked around the landscape of paved streets, tall buildings, and people in transit.

Over the last twenty-eight years, since the end of the forgotten digimon battles of the Digidestined, Odaiba had changed greatly. The city had more than tripled in size and population. Buildings that had once been less than ten or twenty stories rose up fifty or sixty at the center of the city, gradually growing smaller as they moved closer to the residential areas and parks. A rail system had snaked its way throughout the city on a five story railway, making moving around the city much easier. All matters of technology had replaced the old systems with coursing power and indicator lights. But despite all of the change, Obaiba had managed to maintain its charm and warm feeling.

"I figured that we'd split into groups of two and search these areas," Koji answered as he removed a map from his pocket and unfolded it on the flat surface of concrete railing outside the train station. Once it was flattened out the others circled around and leaned in to look. "I did some research on the cities past last night, and I feel that these are the kinds of places where we might find some information. If there's anything to be found here that is."

"Dibs on the city history museum and television station," Takuya spoke up the moment Koji went silent as he tapped the two locations circled in red that Koji had drawn on the map.

"Why do you get those?" JP inquired suspiciously.

"Because I called them. And I'm the leader so I get to pick first," Takuya smiled at him.

"That's good. My grandfather works at the television station, so I'm sure he'll help up access their archives," Zoe remarked as she leaned her shoulder up against Takuya's.

"Wait! Takuya hasn't even said what the teams are going to be, so how do you know you're with him. I was thinking that you and I would…" JP trailed off when he noticed that no one was paying attention to him.

"Okay, then Koichi and I will take the city libraries. We'll check through the old newspaper archives and databases for anything pertaining to digimon," Koji chose while his brother nodded in agreement.

"I guess that leaves me and JP to cover the…" Tommy leaned over the map and examined the remaining marks on the map with a confused look. "…construction contractors and city hall? What's up with those locations, Koji?"

"If there were digimon and digimon battles in this city, then there's going to have been some serious property damage. So you two will need to reference the construction contractor's public files and get us copies of any government repair projects that took place between thirty-two and twenty-seven years ago from the city hall."

"How are we supposed to get all of that? And why within that five year window?" JP gave into the fact that he was going to be stuck with Tommy with a depressed sigh.

"First off, all of the stuff you're going to request from them is open to the public thanks to government spending related information sharing requirements; but you two will probably have to do all of the photocopying and printing yourselves. As for the five years, thanks to the internet searching Takuya and I did, we were able to narrow down the rumors of digimon to times within those years," Koji explained, showing that he had put a lot of work into his choice of locations.

"Great, it sounds like we got the fun assignment…" JP sighed as his shoulders sank at the idea of spending the rest of the day looking through files and government documents.

"It's not exactly like we're all going to be having a lot of fun today. It's backrooms and old computers for us all," Koichi retorted.

"I don't know about that. A museum and television station sound a lot more fun that all of the other choices," JP came back with.

"That's exactly why I picked them. Being the leader has its perks some times," Takuya smiled before folding up the map and handing it to back to Koji. "Let's split up now and get to checking. I figure we should all be able to get the first half of our lists done by lunch time, so I'll call everyone around that time and we'll figure out where to grab something to eat."

"Right," the five agreed with a group cheer before the three teams split up and went their separate ways.

* * *

"Three hours of walking thought this place and we still haven't found anything about digimon being involved with the city," Zoe stated as she looked over a display case featuring pictures of previous government officials breaking ground at some construction site. "It's not like I expected what we're looking for to be obvious, but you'd think we'd have come across something by now."

"What I really wasn't expecting was a city history museum to take over three hours. How much could have seriously happened here that people see as noteworthy. I was hoping that we'd get done in about an hour and get some free time to…" Takuya suddenly trailed off when he became conscious of what he was saying.

"Free time to do what?" Zoe inquired, really wishing that he would finish his thought, but in response he just deflected her question.

"How about that?" Takuya awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck as he pushed is focus on the first thing he saw. With a stiff pace he made his way to a large table like display case and began to read the description of the articles within to himself. Originally, he had just done it to stop Zoe from inquiring any further about what he almost said, but from the very first word his interest was engaged. "I think we just found something."

"Huh?" Zoe walked around the display case ready to call him out on dodging her question, but when she saw him in deep concentration with the subject matter she decided he might have been being serious.

Looking down she saw a collection of old newspaper articles and police photos of different city locations. What was most striking about the pictures was that they were all of severally damaged city structures. One was of a damaged and burned bus booth, there were a few more of shattered concrete sidewalk slabs and a busted soda machine, and the most pictures revolved around a decimated bridge and the stretch of road it went over.

"Terrorist bombs go off in the middle of a quite summer night," Zoe walked around to Takuya's side and read off the placard in the middle of the display. Beside her Takuya's eyes finished darting back and forth across the rest of the description and he began circling the display case, visually taking in all the evidence before he would make up his mind.

"It was a cool summer's night when bombs set off by a still unknown faction rocked the peaceful streets of Odiaba. The events triggered a nationwide hunt for the perpetrators of the incident, but due to a lack of evidence or ability to find any form of explosive residue the case quickly went cold. There were never any demands filed and no organization took credit for the incidents. These dark events remain an unsolved mystery that has actually had a positive impact on the city by leading to the creation and enforcement of better police monitoring and response…" Zoe trailed off when she realized that the rest was the normal spiel cities give to reassure their citizens. "I'm guessing we know why they never found any trace evidence or suspects."

"Yeah," Takuya looked up at her from the case before placing his backpack down on the glass and unzipped it.

"Hey, how's it going?" Gatomon sarcastically looked up at him. With each passing hour she had become more and more annoyed by the fact that she had to remain hidden in the bag. There were too many security cameras and people around for her to come out and look at what was around them. However, she had managed to stay sane thanks to Takuya and Zoe reading different bits of information aloud so she had something to do.

"Umm…" Takuya wasn't sure how to respond to the look he was getting from her. "Camera…"

In response Gatomon just narrowed her eyes and gave him a powerful look, but pulled back on it when he gave her an apologetic look. "Fine… here…" she rooted around behind her and held up the small cell phone size camera.

"Thanks," Takuya smiled in reply before turning it into an apologetic look as he zipped the bag back up. "Zoe, I'll get photos of everything in the case while you look for anything else in here that's related to this."

"Okay," Zoe smiled before skipping over to another display case in the wall which she began to read while behind her the flash of the camera went off every couple of seconds.

* * *

"Hmm, eleven-o-clock," Takuya pondered as he watched the time change on his cell phone.

"After nearly four hours of walking through a museum with only that one case to show for it, I'm definitely ready to get something to eat," Zoe yawned when exposed to the warm sunlight again; glad to be out from under all the florescent lighting.

"Let's see where everyone wants to get something to eat," Takuya set his backpack down on a park bench and unzipped it, allowing Gatomon to get some sunlight and fresh air.

It only took two minutes of communication for the groups to set up a decision about what they wanted to do about their food problem. They decided that going to a relative's house to get some lunch was the best choice. It would save them money, give them a place to relax, and get in some visitation points with their grandparents. The twins chose to stop by their mother's parents store since their grandmother was a pretty decent cook; while Tommy and JP selected Tommy's grandmother on his father's side since she could use the company.

"So who do you want to go to?" Takuya questioned Zoe as he hit the call end button and slipped it back into his pocket.

"How about your grandparents place? I'd actually really like to meet them," Zoe smiled at Takuya, using her perky look to hide a slyer intent.

"You would?" There was surprise evident in his tone as his mind raced to understand her logic; however, he gave up trying to figure it out on his own and instead opted to ask. "Why?"

Zoe smiled at him in response and walked a few steps ahead while she searched for the best reply. She would eventually settle on, "Research for the future," as her smile grew wider.

"_What exactly is that suppose to mean…?"_ Takuya mulled over her response in his head as he quickened his pace to catch up with her.

* * *

It was only a twenty minute walk along the city streets to reach the front door of the senior Kamiya's apartment door. The door was still the same color of green it had always been, but long ago it had been changed out for a more secure version with a camera display instead of an old fashion peephole when the building was renovated about eight years ago. As the two new generation of Digidestined stood before it they had no idea of how much amazing things had happened and been discussed beyond its threshold. Obvious to how it had severed as a base of operations and refuge on a few occasions Takuya reached out and pushed down the doorbell.

There was a small chime from the device, telling those outside that the bell had rung, and they waited a few seconds for the sound of footsteps to echo towards them. The wooden panels of the floor on the other side creaked slightly as the camera came to life and zoomed in on their faces. A second later there was a muffled happy laugh before the lock on the door was undone and it swung open.

"Takuya, sweetie!" A woman with brown graying hair pulled back in a ponytail smiled as she threw her arms around him and pulled him close. She held him tight and began twisting back and forth playful swaying him.

"Hey, grandma," for a few seconds Takuya let her do her thing without resisting, but when he caught the sight of Zoe smiling at the scene he suddenly felt the need to stop it as a wave of embarrassment crashed against him. "It's good to see you Grandma. Could we come in? We're kind of tired and hungry," he wasn't one to push his grandmother away or tell her to stop, so he really hoped that with some properly placed sympathy he could get her off of him.

"Of course, dear. Come in…" she replied as she released him and headed back inside, beckoning for them to follow. Takuya instantly tried to brush off the incident by acting like it hadn't bothered him, but it was very difficult when Zoe was looking at him like she was with that sly smile. "…and introduce me to your girlfriend."

"Right, thanks gran… wait! Girlfriend!" Takuya choked on the word in a mild panic. "She, I, us, n…"

"The name's Izumi Ishida, Ma'am," Zoe chased after the woman with a big smile, leaving Takuya standing on the walkway with his mouth slightly agape and mind and body frozen.

"Aren't you just the cutest thing," Takuya's grandmother beamed at the young girls courteous and energetic behavior. "Takuya, hurry up and come in. Don't just stand out there with the door open. I swear that you're sometimes too much like your father. That boy was such a handful, so you'll need to work on that," she turned to Zoe with a smile at the last comment.

"Yes, Grandma…" Takuya sighed and let his head rest in defeat against the doorframe.

"So what brings you to visit your poor grandmother in the middle of the week? Where's your parents and your brother?" The senior Mrs. Kamiya questioned with a teasing smile.

"They're still back at home. I just decided to come and see you, granddad, and the city, today," Takuya explained as he stepped inside and pulled the door closed behind him.

"Somehow, I feel that the city had more to do with your visiting than me and your grandfather," she pouted at him before turning to Zoe. "Can you believe how little I see him considering it's only a ten minute trip by train?"

"That's terrible," Zoe playfully gasped and glared at Takuya.

"It's not like you see your grandparents any more than I do, Zoe," Takuya's expression turned slightly agitated when her realized that the whole visit was most likely going to be a two against one experience.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Zoe tilted her head and gave him a feigned look of confusion.

"Such a nice girl," she beamed at Zoe before turning to Takuya with a serious expression. "You better be treating her right, Takuya. You don't want to lose such a great one."

"Seriously, she's not…" Takuya forcefully pushed down the blood rushing to his face from the embarrassment of his grandmother's instance that Zoe was his girlfriend.

However, the older woman paid his stuttering defense no mind as she took Zoe by the hand a guided her to the couch in the living room where she motioned for her to sit. "So, tell me about yourself," she looked Zoe in the eyes and smiled.

"Well…" Zoe responded as she prepared to converse with the older woman while Takuya prepared himself for more of what he had just been forced through before even clearing the entryway.

* * *

To be continued…


	19. Home Again: Part 2

**Chapter 19**

**Home Again- Part 2**

"Well, that was an experience…" Takuya sighed after pulling the bathroom door closed behind him and locked it. He then set his red backpack down on the back of the toilet and flipped on the bathroom fan before returning to the bag and unzipped it.

"Finally!" Gatomon quietly cheered, knowing that the hum of the fan could muffle her whispers, as she leapt out of the bag and onto Takuya's shoulder. "If I had to stay balled up like that for another minute, I was going to lose it."

"Sorry about that," Takuya watched her stretch her body with a grin. At the moment he could definitely see the feline influence in her data.

"Your grandmother seems interesting," Gatomon smiled, remembering how easily the woman had played around with his head, and how respectful he was being around her.

"That's one word for it," Takuya leaned forward over the sink and looked his face over, inspecting the weary mood the woman had instilled in him. "You'll find her even more interesting when you try her cooking."

"Why? From what I understand of human family culture, the grandmothers cooking is supposed to be really good, cookies, cakes, and smoked fish, stuff of that sort," Gatomon questioned, bring a look of anticipated hunger to her face at the thought.

"_Smoked fish…? Where does that fit in? That's got to be the cat in her,"_ Takuya smiled to himself as he lightly shook his head. "Trust me; you'll understand what I mean once lunch rolls around. So what do you want to do now? Back in the bag or do you want to hang around in here?"

"Hmm," Gatomon pondered choices, sounding like she didn't like either of them.

"Or I could let you out on the balcony and you could climb up to the roof," Takuya suggested after a bit more thought.

"That!" Gatomon jumped at the suggestion that would allow her to roam around freely in a large area instead of being stuck in the small bathroom or even smaller bag.

"Okay, climb back in and I'll take you out," Takuya glanced at the bag as he ran a hand through his hair, readjusting it before putting his blue hat back on.

"Right," Gatomon dropped into the bag and curled up before Takuya zipped it up, slung it over his shoulder, and exited the bathroom.

"Hey, grandma, I'm going to drop my bag off in the guest room," Takuya stated upon exiting the bathroom and quickly made his way to the door before she could question why he needed to. He then pulled the door up and slipped inside before closing it behind him.

The room had once been the bedroom his father and aunt shared when they were kids, but now little of the old trappings remained. The only original things in the room from the old days were a mirror hanging on the wall, an few pictures of when his father and sister were younger, an tattered desk who's original purpose had been for doing homework but had been turned into a coloring station for visiting grandchildren, and the old bunk bed his grandfather had pulled out of storage so he and Shinya would have somewhere to sleep when they visited. Everything else in the room, an old television set and computer, bookshelf loaded with books, armchair, and vanity table, had been added over the years.

He walked over to the bed and set the bag down on the top bunk of the bed. Gatomon quickly popped out of the bag and returned to stretching her body while Takuya unlocked and pulled open the sliding glass balcony door enough for Gatomon to come and go as she pleased.

"Hmm?" Takuya's tone turned slightly perplexed as he stared at the open door. He had expected Gatomon to pounce out the door the moment it was open, instead he turned around to find the cat digimon looking around the room with a lost look. "Hey, Gatomon, you all right?"

Gatomon twitched slightly at his words, indicating that she had heard his question, but she still continued to look around the room for a few more seconds before finally speaking, "…it's nothing… Something just felt weird for a moment. Maybe I spent too much time trapped in that bag."

"Maybe… Are you sure you're okay?" Takuya tilted his head slightly and gave her a concerned look. Takuya knew he wasn't the best at reading certain situations or people, but he could always tell when there was a problem; and he was definitely sensing trouble from his feline companion.

"Yeah… I'm sure…" she shook herself out of her dazed stupor and jumped from the top bunk, to the desk, and then down to the floor before slipping out the open door. The last sight Takuya caught of her was a glint off her gold tail ring as she leapt to the patio above on her way to the roof.

"She's been doing that a lot lately," Takuya continued to stare out the glass door at the last spot he had seen Gatomon. Recently he had noticed Gatomon falling into moments of dazed contemplation at least once a day. She would see or hear something during the course of the day and that would trigger unblinking moments of silent, intense, thought, while her look turned to that of someone just out of reach of an answer. "I wonder if I should talk to her about it. She's been with me all this time and I still don't know much about her. Now that I say it aloud I kind of feel bad about not asking her about her past before now."

Deciding that there wasn't anything he could do about her now, he left the door open a crack before leaving the bedroom and stepping back into the family where he was greeted by a worrisome atmosphere. On the couch his grandmother and Zoe were looking down at something and laughing.

"Oh my gosh!" Zoe laughed, barely able to keep her outcry at a normal level.

"I know," his grandmother responded as she pressed her hand playfully against her cheek, a sign that she was recalling a distant memory.

Watching the two's interactions Takuya felt a feeling of cold dread quickly creep over him. In the back of his mind he searched for a reason for the terrible feeling.

"Aww, so cute," Zoe cooed. Her tone and smile making Takuya's eye twitch in a quick spasm.

"Wasn't he?" The elder Kamiya chuckled as the look of remembrance on her face deepened.

Now, Takuya definitely knew something was serious wrong in his perfect world. Something evil and unspeakable was taking place, and he had a hunch as to what it was.

"Now, here's Takuya at the water park when-" was as far as the grandmother was able to get out before Takuya cried out over her.

"No! No more! No more from the baby album!" Takuya yelped as he ran across the room, reached over the couch, and grabbed the open photo album resting between the two girls. He quickly closed the book and tightly gripped it against his chest as his face shifted through shades of red.

"Hmm, Takuya," Zoe hummed with a big, sly, smile.

"Oh, no. I think I might have broken one of the grandparent/grandchild taboos. I'm sorry sweetie. I won't show her any more photos." Despite his grandmothers assurance Takuya still continued to grip the album defensively, as if one of them would attempt to pull it from his hands at the first chance.

"I can't believe I let this happen. No, it's my fault, I let my guard down," Takuya sighed at his grandmothers apologetic smile as he went to put the photo album back on the shelf it had come from.

"So what happened at the water park that you don't want me to know about?" Zoe snuck up next to him and sung into his ear, making him jump and shove the book back into its spot harder than he meant to.

"Nothing! Nothing happened," Takuya insisted as he defensively covered the spot with his body.

"Hmm," Zoe smiled at him playfully as she leaned towards him, backing him into the bookshelf, and examined his face with a knowing look.

"Food!" Takuya blurted out as he nervously turned away from her gaze and toward the kitchen. "Lunch, lunch I mean."

"That sound like a good idea. I'll get started on something to eat right away," the grandmother got up from the couch and quickly made her way to the kitchen, feeling that she had to give into her grandsons distraction tactic if she wanted to make up for embarrassing him.

"Thanks, grandma. And if you could, could we possible steer away from your experimental health foods and settle on something normal," Takuya pleaded on the behalf of his and Zoe's stomachs. After fifteen years of visits he had somewhat gotten used to her unusual dishes, but he couldn't be sure about Zoe.

"Takuya, I like health food. How do you think I keep this great figure," Zoe smiled seductively at him as she ran her hands down the sides of her body.

"Trust me, it might have healthy food in it, but it's not good for anybodies health," Takuya whispered to her.

* * *

Yuuko hummed a little tune to herself as she pulled a pot and frying pan out from one of the cabinets under the counter and set them down on the stove. She sprayed the frying pan with a burst of vegetable oil from a can and took out some vegetables and cuts of meat from the fridge. She chopped up the vegetables and tossed them in the pot with some broth while she fried up the meat in the pan.

While she cooked her eyes wandered back to the living room. Her oldest grandson and the girl, Zoe, he had brought with him today were sitting on the couch and talking. They were sitting close together and discussing something just low enough that Yuuko couldn't hear. There was no need for her to hear whatever they were talking about, all she cared about was how much they reminded her of the past.

"_They're just like watching Tai and Sora all over again,"_ she smiled to herself. The similarities between the two fifteen year olds and her son and the daughter-in-law she had come to love were so great that she couldn't help but have flashbacks to the old days.

The couch might have been different and the walls might have been lighter, but it was the same room, the same home, and the two teenager's smiles were the same. Yuuko could see that the two were meant to be together after only twenty minutes, just like she had seen that Tai and Sora belong to each other years before they even started up their relationship. It was funny how she never lost her motherly instincts.

The thought of maybe someday seeing her great-grandchildren crept into her mind and she used the thought to amuse herself for a few minutes while she cooked. Her gentle happy smile remained until the two teens expressions changed from laughing to serious. Takuya had brought up some topic that had changed the whole mood of the conversation. He hadn't made Zoe mad or said the wrong thing. He had made some purposeful change in their talk, directing it towards something else; something they both had been wanting to talk about.

The drastic change in the two shook Yuuko from her pleased state and set the wheels spinning in her head. Her thoughts had no direction, but she couldn't rid her mind of a singular image overlapping the two. The picture in her head was still that of Tai and Sora talking on the couch, but it was a serious one. It was back when the two would get together to discuss things, problems, pertaining to that world. Dare she think of that place after all of these years without anything? Dare she think about the Digital World once again? Especially in relation to her grandchild.

"_I wonder why that just popped into my head now?"_ Yuuko questioned herself as she looked away from the two and shook the thought from her head. She returned to her cooking, attributing the dredged up memory to too much thinking about the past in a half an hour block of time.

* * *

Soon enough the three had downed a good lunch of stewed vegetables and meat with rice. To Takuya's surprise his grandmother had actually listened to him and chosen a normal recipe; which made him wonder if she only saved her food experiments for family and didn't want to inflict them on company.

"I'll take care of the dishes and the leftovers," Takuya announced once his food was finished. He quickly got up and took his dish to the kitchen and set it in the sink.

"Wow, he's actually taking care of the dishes. I'm impressed," Yuuko chuckled.

"He's growing up," Zoe added on, earning an audible grumble from Takuya in the kitchen.

Normally, while visiting his grandparents Takuya would get lazy and leave that work to his grandmother, but today he had a reason to want to take care of the leftovers from the meal. Once he was done washing his plate he grabbed a bag of white bread from the counter and pulled out two slices. He proceeded to put the remaining slices of meat and a few vegetables from the stew onto one slice and set the other down on top of it. He then wrapped the leftovers sandwich in plastic wrap and stepped out of the kitchen.

"I need to get some fresh air. I'll be back," Takuya stated the moment he emerged from the kitchen and quickened his pace towards the front door.

"Well, that didn't last long. But at least he did his own and took care of the leftovers," Yuuko laughed as she looked up from her own dirty plate, which she had been waiting for Takuya to come and take.

Out on the walkway Takuya ran up the several flights of stairs and out onto the roof. He was in a hurry since he had learned his lesson about leaving his grandmother alone with the girl he liked, he could only hope that she didn't use his absence to pull out another album or tell another store.

"Gatomon," Takuya called out for the digimon who should have been somewhere on the roof. "Gatomon," he called out a little louder when he didn't get a reply, but just like before no response came.

With a slightly concerned expression Takuya began walking around the roof, looking for the feline digimon in question. It didn't take him long to spot her sitting on a ledge.

"Gatomon?" Takuya's tune turned quizzical when he didn't see her indicate that she knew he was there. He had tried to sneak up on the feline quite a few times, all in the name of some good clean fun, but every time she had caught onto him well before he was in range. But now, he was actively calling out to her and within a few feet of her and she hadn't become aware of him.

He stepped a little closer, putting her front in view, and got what he believe to be a bit of the puzzle. The same look that she had gotten in the bedroom was deeply etched into her face. She was staring out at the city tour Ferris wheel that had been built where the old giant mesh satellite dish had once been. They had torn it down decades ago when it had become very obsolete. Gatomon was watching it rotate with a fixed stare and spinning the charm at the end of her necklace between her claws. Looking at her, he couldn't help but wonder how long she had been like that. Could it have been ever since she first climbed to the roof?

"Gatomon," Takuya sat down beside her and carefully rested his hand on her soft head.

"Woah!" Suddenly being patted on the head yanked her from her thoughts and made her body respond by perking up. However, hearing Takuya voice speak her name was enough to halt any further action and calm her down.

"Gatomon," he smiled down at her when she turned her head around and shyly looked up at him. There was obvious embarrassment and guilt in her eyes; he assumed it was because she felt bad about being so distracted that anyone could have snuck up on her. She was just lucky that it was Takuya and not some stranger.

"Takuya, I…" She tried to form an apology, but couldn't find the right words.

"Don't say it. If I had to apologize every time I got distracted and zoned out, I'd have lost my voice by now," Takuya smiled at her before he handed her the wrapped sandwich. "Here, it's the travel version of our lunch."

"Thanks," Gatomon happily took it and gave it a sniff before she began unwrapping it.

For a few minutes Takuya stared out over the city, watching the Ferris wheel to see if he could understand why she had been so fascinated by it. He didn't see anything special about it, but figuring it out wasn't the reason for his silence. What he was really trying to do was figure out how to approach the subject of Gatomon's distracted behavior.

Once he saw that she had finished most of the sandwich he decided to start talking. "So what were you thinking about so intensely? You seemed really gone there."

Gatomon took the final bite of the sandwich before looking back out over the horizon. "I really wish I could tell you…" Her blue eyes returned to the giant rotating wheel, wishing the sight could invoke her previous state, but whatever it had stirred within her was gone now.

"You know what, I have this idea about that," Takuya stated as he continued to watch the amusement rotate; after staring at it for so long he couldn't look away now.

"An idea?" Gatomon looked up at his eyes focused on the distance.

"Yeah," Takuya gave a small smile. "You've never zoned out as much as you have since we got here. Hell, I was able to completely sneak up on you, and I wasn't even trying to. After the incident in the bedroom I started thinking about how we suspect that digimon might have appeared here in Odaiba years ago."

"And?" Gatomon stared up at him, intently begging with her big eyes for him to continue.

"And I was wondering if this might not have been your first visit to this city. Could you have been one of the digimon that appeared in this city years ago?" He finally looked down at the little digimon, only to become perplexed by her worried expression.

"You don't think I was an enemy, do you? I couldn't have been… right?" Gatomon expressed her worry, urgently looking for some reassurance from Takuya.

"No, of course I don't think that. You don't seem like the type who could ever have been a baddy, besides, I doubt Lady Ophanimon would have made you the guardian of her castles data if she couldn't trust you. She even trusted you enough to have you look out for us," Takuya put his hand on her head and began to scratch behind her ears, bring out a low purr after a few seconds. "I'm thinking that maybe you just somehow ended up here, or maybe you were here for a reason."

"A reason…" Gatomon whispered between a break in her purring, wishing that were the case. However, as she hoped for the best another idea crossed her mind. "If I was here during that time, I could help you find the answers you're all looking for… if only I could remember what I did or who I was before I ended up at Lady Ophanimon's castle…"

"Yeah, but that's assuming that I'm right, which doesn't happen much. Just ask Koji," Takuya laughed as he ruffled the fur on her head and stood up. "And if that turns out to be the case, we'll all find a way to help you remember who you are." With that he smiled down at her with a confident grin.

"Thanks," she laughed, feeling much better after having talked it out and getting Takuya's assurance.

"What are friends for. We're just glad we could help," he stretched his body and gave her a crooked smile. "We'll probably be leaving in about twenty minutes, so be back downstairs before then. Okay."

"Okay," Gatomon nodded in understanding. She then began walking around the roof, stretching her body and mind in preparation for returning to the cramped backpack.

Twenty minutes later Takuya and Zoe stood on the other side of the apartment door, getting in some final moments with the elder Kamiya.

"Where is that man? I really wish your grandfather could have gotten home before you had to leave. He's going to regret that he missed you and didn't get to meet Zoe. Are you sure you can't stick around a little longer?" Yuuko questioned her grandson, not wanting him to leave so soon.

"Sorry grandma, but we still have stuff to do in the city today before we have to get home," Takuya looked away and nervously rubbed the back of his neck, unable to look her in the eyes, knowing that he wouldn't be able to leave if he did.

"Takuya's right. I'm sorry, but we really have to hurry and see my grandfather before he goes home for the day," Zoe politely remarked, giving a small bow of apology.

"That's too bad. Hopefully, you'll both come by again soon then," she was forced to give up with a small smile. "You two make sure to enjoy the city. And Takuya, you look after her, okay."

"Right, grandma," Takuya smiled through a slight blush at her remark.

* * *

Half an hour later the two found themselves standing before the news broadcasting station Zoe's grandfather, Hiroaki Ishida, ran. Zoe had called the man once they had left the Kamiya apartment complex to make sure that he was in and that it was alright if they stopped by. She had used a sweet and innocent tone of voice to spin a story about having to do a paper about the city's past for History class; saying that she wanted to get an A on the project and the database at the station could really help. Even though Takuya could barely hear what her grandfather was saying on his end, he could still recognize the sound of a grandparent crumbling under the sweet pleading of a grandchild.

"It looks like you'll get to exact some of your revenge on me now," Zoe smiled towards Takuya, recalling the teasing she had heaped on him with the help of his grandmother.

"I doubt that. There's a whole different relationship between grandmothers and grandsons, and grandfathers and granddaughters. I'm lucky if this is slightly less awkward then the ten minutes I spent with your dad a couple nights ago," Takuya sighed, already dreading the meeting. "But at least I'll get to meet your granddad."

"Don't worry about it. My grandfather might be a workaholic, but he's also pretty laid back when it comes to other stuff. I think you'll like him," Zoe assured him with a playful smile. "My grandfather on my mother's side is the complete opposite. He freaks out about the smallest things and can be over protective of my mom, even now."

"Weird family you've got there," Takuya chuckled, feeling a bit better after her reassurance.

"Yeah, like yours is so normal," Zoe lightly shoved him.

"There's no such thing as a normal family Zoe," Takuya remarked as he pulled open the main door and ushered her inside.

The main hall of the building wasn't very impressive. It was clean and looked professional, but since it wasn't the place where business was conducted or clients were entertained, that was done at the main building in Tokyo, it was kept modest. The only things of note were in the center of three story room. A large receptionist's desk that wrapped around in a big circle which above it hung a large flat screen television displaying what was playing on the multiple feeds going out from the station. Behind the desk sat six different men and women dressed in simple suits; some where answering phones, or working on computers, while one sat with her elbows on the polished brown wood surface of the desk and her hands folded as she watched the front door intently.

"Come on, Takuya. My grandfather said he'd phone down to the main desk and get us some guest passes set up before we arrived," Zoe pulled Takuya away from his fixed gaze on the screen displaying a local soccer game and towards the woman in a gray pinstripe suit who had been watching them since they had walked in.

"Let's hope he was able to pull himself away from his work long enough to do that," Takuya teased at the fact that Zoe had referred to him as a workaholic.

"He's not that bad," Zoe retorted as they reach the desk. Without missing a beat Zoe turned to the woman, flashed a bright smile and said. "Hello, Izumi Ishida to see Mr. Ishida. My grandfather should have some guest passes waiting for us."

The instant the woman heard Zoe's last name her expression changed from a bored glare to a startled alertness. It seemed most likely that she thought the two were tourist who didn't know that they had in fact wandered into the broadcasting and editing building, and not a studio.

"Yes, I'll check," the woman quickly began shuffling through the folder before her. When she didn't find what she was looking for she opened her email and quickly check through her inbox. She glanced up at the two as she closed her email and walked over to one of the other receptionists, whose ear she whispered into. The other worker whispered something back and the woman sighed before returning to the two teens. "I'm sorry, but it appears that no one in reception has heard from Mr. Ishida today… I could call him if you'd like." The woman's voice trembled slightly as she spoke. She seemed to believe that Zoe was telling the truth about being the boss's granddaughter and didn't want to upset her, but at the same time she couldn't let her go any further with authorization.

"No, it's alright, I'll call him… _again_," Zoe growled at the smug smile on Takuya's face. She was pretty sure that even he wasn't sure he'd be right, but it didn't change the fact that he was.

With that Zoe walked away to one of the glass corners of the room, leaving Takuya with the receptionist, while she dialed her grandfather on her cell phone. Over the sound of the receptionists working and talking on the phones Takuya couldn't hear what Zoe was saying on her phone, but from her stiff posture and agitated body language he could infer that she was probably chewing the man out.

After thirty second Zoe closed her phone and walked back to the receptionist. "He should be calling down any sec-"

Zoe didn't get to finish before the ding from the elevator rang out and the doors opened. Out of the elevator stepped an older man in a pair of light brown slacks, wrinkled dress shirt, and a loosened tie. His hair was a mixture of gray and dark brown and was slightly disheveled, probably a casualty of a long work day.

"Sorry, pumpkin," the older man called out across the hall, earning an annoyed glare from Zoe.

"What did you say to make him run down here instead of just calling down?" Takuya leaned closer to Zoe's ear and inquired, feeling slightly afraid of her at the moment. However, despite the fact that he really wanted to know, he quickly gave it up when she turned her glare on him. "Never mind…"

When Zoe's grandfather eventually reach them it became apparent that his breathing was slightly labored, meaning he had probably run to the elevator. "I'm so sorry. I was on my way to make the call when I came across some scheduling problems for tonight's broadcast… and after that I kind of got distracted by one of my editors…" His voice slowly faltered near the end when he realized that his excuse wasn't going to get him out of trouble for failing to make a thirty second call down to the front desk.

"It's okay…" Takuya nervously chuckled, unable to avert his eyes from Zoe's agitated gaze directed at her relative. He really didn't think it was his place to accept the man's apology, since he wasn't related to him, but with how silent Zoe was being, he felt he had to say something.

"If it's okay with Takuya, then," Zoe's irritation turned to a happy smile as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her grandfather's waist in a big hug. "It's good to see you granddaddy."

"Seeing you has made my day, pumpkin," her grandfather smiled as he hugged her back.

Suddenly Zoe's eyes widened slightly and she pushed herself back from him, placed her hands on her hips, stiffened her stance and began to lecture the man. "Granddaddy, you feel like you've gained weight. You haven't been eating right again. You know you're supposed to take some time off to get something health to eat rather than ordering that greasy takeout you love to eat."

"I'm just so busy… I don't have the time to take a…" Hiroaki tried to defend his food choices unsuccessfully.

"I don't care. Healthy, granddaddy! At least a salad for lunch or dinner," she rejoined, not willing to listen to his excuses.

"Sorry…" Hiroaki looked away shamefully.

Takuya guessed by how badly he was losing against his granddaughter that it was the result of not having a woman around to keep him in line for a long time. From what he knew of the man, he had gotten divorced after a few years of marriage and after that only lived with his son, Zoe's father, leaving him with no one to get on his case about his health.

"If you don't mind me asking, who's your friend?" The grandfather spotted a way out from under his precious granddaughter's persecution in the boy standing nervously beside her.

"I'm Takuya Kamiya, sir. It's good to meet you. I've heard quite a bit about you, sir," Takuya saw his chance to help the man escape Zoe, something he wished people would do more for him.

"I hope at least some of it was good," the older man chuckled, making sure to advert his eyes from his granddaughter who was still ready to discuss his bad habits some more. "Wait, so you're Takuya. I see it now," he added with a big smile when a flash of realization came over him.

"You've heard of me, sir," Takuya looked perplexed by both the smile and remark.

"You could say that the topic of you has come up before when I talk with my son, Zoe's father. And all I can say right now is, my poor son," Hiroaki laughed as he slapped him warmly on the back. "Hisa, can I get two full access guest passes?"

"Yes, Mr. Ishida!" the woman behind the desk quickly jumped into action and pulled open a cabinet door under her desk. From out of it she removed two plastic passes attached to green lanyards and handed them to her boss.

"Thanks, Hisa," Hiroaki smiled at the woman before he put his hand back on Takuya's back and began pushing him towards the elevators. Zoe trailed behind, deciding she wasn't going to get the chance to confront her grandfather anymore. "B2, reference and storage. So tell me about yourself, Takuya," the man continued to talk once they were in the elevator and he had pressed the correct floor button.

"Ah, well…" Takuya found it difficult to talk. He didn't know why he still felt nervous around the man; he just knew that behind that smile was some kind of malice.

* * *

Six hours quickly slipped by while the two sat working at the computers in the basement. They had a five year window in which to narrow their search, but that still equated to thousands of articles and news clips.

"I think that's it for today," Takuya leaned back in his chair and yawned out loud. "We've check up to the fourth year. We can finish up the rest tomorrow."

"I thought we were heading home tonight, so how are we going to get the rest?" Zoe looked him over quizzical.

"I'm thinking that we aren't the only ones who didn't get as much done as they'd like, so I'm going to call up the others and suggest that we spend the night and head home tomorrow evening. Anyways, I'd like to look around the city some more and check out the rumors we heard about people only passing on information related to digimon by word of mouth. This'll also give the six of us a chance to take in some of the sights and do something interesting besides from research, so that the weekend won't be a total write off," Takuya explained as he pulled out his D-Phone and began calling the others.

While Takuya discussed his plans with the others, Zoe began gathering up what they had collected after six hours of work. As she packed up the digital storage devices, holding video and scanned articles, and photocopies that they had made of hard copy files she reviewed what they had found in her head. _"We never found anything that directly mentioned digimon, but you change a few words here and there, and some of these could definitely be digimon related. And for that matter, there are lots of photos of damage, but no unexplained monsters that could be digimon. If digimon had really appeared here I would have expected people to have at least gotten some photos of them. I at least would have thought there'd be some grainy cell phone pictures of them."_

With the click of his phone Takuya's call came to an end and he relayed the decision to Zoe. "The guys agreed with me. We're all going to stay with our grandparents tonight and pick things up in the morning. I'll probably surprise my grandmother, on my mom's side, and stay with her. I'm sure she'd love the company. It'll also give my dad's parents some time to fuss over Tommy. How about you, Zoe?"

"Since I just saw my granddad, I should probably visit my grandma. Anyways, we have some catching up to do," Zoe smiled at the thought.

"Sounds good. I'll walk you there before I head to my grandmothers," Takuya offered as he helped her finish gathering up their things.

The two went back up the elevator with what they had so far and back out the main hall, making sure to drop their guest passes off at the front desk and tell Hisa that they'd be back in the morning. True to his word Takuya walked Zoe to her grandmothers before they parted ways and made his way to his own.

Some promises and progress have been made today, but will any of it amount to a clear picture of what happened in this city years ago.

* * *

To be continued…


	20. Home Again: Part 3

**Chapter 20**

**Home Again - Part 3**

Eight in the morning rolled around quickly and Takuya was awoken by his grandmother knocking on the door to the guest room he was staying in.

"Takuya, it's time to get up. Breakfast is on the table and I'd prefer not to eat alone," she playfully remarked with the soft tone of an experienced mother.

"Alright, I'll be right there," he managed to get out through a yawn as he rolled out of bed. Once he was sitting up his attention shifted to the end of the bed where a certain feline digimon should have been laying; however, he found the spot vacant. "Gatomon?" he called out for her with a hushed voice, knowing that her sensitive ears could pick it up from a hundred feet away while it wouldn't carry into the halls. He really didn't feel like telling his grandmother that he was only talking to himself if she overheard.

"What's up?" A response came along with something brushing against his legs. Looking down to the floor he found Gatomon staring up at him with refreshed and inquisitive eyes.

"Where you under the bed? Why were you under the bed?" Takuya questioned as he continued to stare back at hers.

"I heard your grandmother stop at your door so I ducked under here in case she decided to come in," Gatomon responded, jumping up onto the bed beside Takuya.

"You don't have to worry about this grandmother bursting in on us. She's big on respecting other people's privacy, so she'll always knock first and ask for permission, even in her own house. You'll find she's a lot more reserved than my dad's mom," Takuya chuckled as he got up from the bed and went for his garments which had been thrown over a standing mirror. Since the overnight visit was unplanned he didn't have a change of clothes on hand, so he'd have to do with what he came in.

"It'd be nice if you could have taken after her a bit more," Gatomon teased at Takuya's barely reserved attitude towards people and life.

"Hilarious…" Takuya sighed as he pulled his shirt down over his head and tried not to think about the fact that wasn't the first time he had gotten that advice. "How'd you sleep?" He choose to change the subject as he hoisted up his pants and buckled the belt with the Dat-X attacked to it.

"Pretty good actually. I didn't have any of those strange distractions I kept having at your other grandparents place, so I didn't feel all out of sorts," Gatomon admitted, giving her body some good morning stretches to wake herself up.

"That's good, but I wonder why you were acting so strange there, and not here," Takuya didn't give it much thought beyond saying it aloud as he pulled the blue hat down on his head. "I'll bring you some food once granny's distracted, so wait here. You might also want to prepare yourself since after breakfast I'm going to call Zoe and were going to head back to her grandfather's office."

"So it's back to the bag," she sighed as she glared at the offending red bag.

"Only until were back in the archives, so only a half an hour, tops," Takuya tried to reassure her, but even he didn't completely buy his words.

Exiting into the hall Takuya quickly made his way towards the kitchen just off of the living room. There he found his grandmother, on his mother's side, setting a platter of food for two down in the center of the table between two empty plates.

Toshiko Takenouchi, the mother of Sora and grandmother of Takuya and Shinya, was an old, but still fine looking woman. A few wrinkles had crawled across her skin over the years and some gray has spread through her dark hazel hair; a color that had been passed down to Takuya. She still carried herself well and had a regal feel to her personality. She was someone who maintained the strong feminine culture of Japan.

"Morning Grandmother," Takuya put on a warm smile and bowed his head slightly toward her.

While Takuya might have had less formal ways of addressing his other elders and family members, he could never apply anything else but the respectful title of grandmother to her. It wasn't that he considered her a harsh, stern or demanding woman; she was however more serious of all his relatives. He just couldn't look at her and utter any other words. Everything from the way she carried herself to the way she smiled seemed controlled and sincere, so he had to use a name deserving of such a strong woman.

"Morning sweetie," she warmly smiled back as she adjusted the platter on the table so that the pile of cooked meat was facing Takuya's spot at the table. "Did you sleep well? That old bed's gotten kind of saggy lately. Your grandfather and I have been thinking about getting a new mattress for the guest room for a while now, but I guess I'll have to wait until he gets back from his latest trip."

Takuya smiled sympathetically at her longing sigh as he took a seat at the table and began pulling bits of meat off of the platter. His grandfather spent his life exploring the mysteries of the world. The man was a modern day adventurer, which was one aspect of him Takuya looked up to; but the cost of it was the main reason why Takuya didn't want to be like him. Haruhiko Takenouchi had spent half of his marriage away from his wife and daughter, and Takuya really disliked that view of family life. Looking back he was pretty sure that if he multiplied the amount of time he had spent with his grandfather over his lifetime by ten, it would still be less than half the time he had spent with any other relative. The elder was never around, and Takuya could never imagine being away from family for that long. A view of life probably imposed by the closeness of his family; which was most likely a result of Sora's own want for her own family to very close. Whatever the man's reasons, Takuya didn't want to turn out like him in that respect.

"So where'd he run off to this time?" Takuya tried to bury the slight resentment of the man in his question, but it still slipped through with his choice of the words, run off to, instead of, gone to.

"He's chasing down some very old folk stories and legends in the countryside of Germany. Apparently even in this day and age they still pass down their stories solely through an oral tradition, so he's aiming to track them all down and record them for the future. If he can get their permission that is…" Toshiko answered, trying her best to paint the man in a more positive light by pointing out that his work never stepped on people's traditions and beliefs, even if it meant he didn't get what he wanted.

"Sounds cool," Takuya smiled. He still hated to admit it, but despite his grandfather's lax family life, he was still pretty cool.

"He should be back in a few months when they wrap up. You should come back and visit then. I'm sure he'd like to see you, and he'll have a lot of stories to tell. I know you've always loved his stories," Toshiko smiled as she moved some of the cooked meat off of the platter and put it on Takuya's plate along with an omelet.

"I guess I could do that… if he comes home this time…" From the way she was trying to press the issue of Takuya seeing his grandfather, he wondered if she understood that he had a strained relationship with the man. He hoped that she didn't, so he let the idea drop.

"He'll be home, so don't worry. You just make sure you get up here. We're old and you're young. You should be the one to put more effort into making the trip up here and visit," Toshiko chuckled at her grandsons eye roll at her nitpicking.

"Fine, fine… I surrender to your will grandmother. I'll be up when he's back," Takuya finally decided that he would promise her, if just to make her smile and get past the subject. "Seriously… What's with me and letting girls walk all over me...?" He added with a sigh under his breath.

A look of interest flashed across Toshiko's face as she locked in on those words. "What's this about girls?"

"_Damn it…"_ Takuya felt his spirits sink at the sight of the wanting and curious smile on his grandmother's face.

* * *

An hour after breakfast Takuya and Zoe had met back up and returned to the basement archives of the television station, while across town Koji and Koichi had already been hard at work for two hour, going through the seventh library on their list electric catalog of old newspapers. They had gotten through five libraries on the first day and after a few more minutes they'd be done with the seventh, leaving two more. If they kept up their current pace they'd be done with their assignment before noon; which was in line with Takuya's plan to explore the city until they had to finally head back home to their families for dinner.

"We seem to be getting faster at this," Koichi noted to his brother directly across from him with a small yawn without taking his eyes off of the computer screen.

"Are you seriously yawning this early in the morning? What, are you becoming Takuya? You need to stop letting his bad habits rub off on you," Koji shot back as he finished an article about some damage to a tour boat in the channel and moved onto the next.

"First of all, that yawn was one of boredom, which isn't strange considering at this point we've read most of these articles already and are really just looking for one that went in any of the last five databases we looked through. Second, this isn't the most interesting work. And third, you're not one to talk about bad habits Mr. Antisocial," Koichi retorted with a satisfied smile.

"Not antisocial… there are just too many stupid people around me. And it's because of all of those repeat articles that we're making such good time," Koji rejoined with a low growl. "And at the pace were coming across them I'm thinking the last couple of libraries might just be a waste of time."

"It is starting to look that way, which is kind of depressing since we haven't found much. Besides from getting more background on that supposed, _terrorist attack_, Takuya and Zoe found at the museum and some stuff that if you take a lot of liberties with you an connect back to digimon, we haven't found much. We'll unless you count all of that stuff…" Koichi's eyes tiredly tracked to a swollen red folder stuffed with photocopies.

"Yeah, the Tabloid Files…" Koji sighed as his eyes jumped to the folder as well. "We were really stretching the definition of connected to digimon with those files. A whole bunch of maybe sightings of digimon in some old tabloids, and stories recounting the impossible and strange events."

"True, a lot of them are really out there, and quite a few of them involving conspiracies theories and shadowy organizations, total men in black stuff. But if Takuya were here, he'd say that when it comes to the Digital World, expect the impossible," Koichi chuckled at his brothers annoyed sigh.

"You're probably right. I just wish we could have found digital copies of them instead of having to spend all of those hours running off photocopies. No digitals, means no search function, which means…" Koji noted with a tone that suggested that he wasn't too happy with the folder.

"Which means we're going to have to read every single one. Not just read either. We'll also have to analyze and note each one as well," Koichi sighed at the day's worth of work the folder entailed. It also didn't help that the stories were badly written, and strangely a lot of them somehow found a way to tie themselves up with celebrities of the era; obviously the work of lies to cash in on peoples obsession with gossip.

"Exactly… Okay, let's get out of here. There's nothing new left to look at," Koji hit the power button on the terminal and stood up, while across from him Koichi finished one last article before turning his off as well.

Koichi picked up the red folder and slipped it into his backpack while Koji finished moving a digital copy of the tour boat story to his memory card. With their things gathered they headed out and began making their way to the next library.

* * *

"This is so boring…" JP whined as he readjusted his body in the chair.

"Yeah, but there's not much we can do about it. But at least once we get those documents we requested we'll be all done, which will make us the first group to finish up and we can spend the rest of the time until lunch exploring the city. I'm sure we can find some fun stuff to do during that time," Tommy smiled up at JP from his slouched posture in the chair.

The two had already been waiting two hours in the lobby of City Hall for one of the secretaries to bring them the copies of the files they had asked for. The day before they had looked up the files connected to public works, repairs, and police call outs, so they knew what they needed, but they had to wait because only government official were allowed beyond the lobby, which meant they couldn't access the archives themselves.

"Why is this taking so long…" JP groaned, sinking further into his chair. "Almost all of those documents should have been digital copies, maybe a few were hardcopy only, but it shouldn't be taking this long."

"We weren't exactly the first ones on the service list, so they're probably getting other requests done before they get to ours. But what's probably taking the most amount of time are those maps of the city from thirty plus years ago Koji asked for," Tommy added before closing his eyes to wait out the delivery.

* * *

Eventually, noon rolled around the six Warriors meet up to have lunch. After indulging in some food from a small family restaurant they set out to explore the city. As younger children they had been all over the city, with the exception of Zoe, when visiting family and friends of their parents; but this time was different for two reasons. One, this was the first time they had done it as the six of them at the same time; and two, their goals wasn't sightseeing, but information gathering.

"So how exactly is this going to work? All of these events supposedly happened nearly thirty-two years ago, so I doubt there's any evidence left besides from what we've already gathered from our assignments," JP brought up a valid question.

"I was kind of wondering that as well," Tommy added, focusing his eyes on Takuya, awaiting an answer. It seemed that JP and Tommy weren't the only ones with questions, Koichi and Zoe also seemed to be waiting for Takuya to talk.

"I'm not stupid. I know it's been far too long to find answers in the streets, but in a way that's exactly where we might find some," Takuya turned and gave them a big crooked smile. "From the chat room Koji and I visited, we learned that the rumors of digimon were kept alive all of these years by people in this city."

"And thanks to some time in private messaging with the one who started the thread, we learned that whenever a new rumor popped up its origin could be traced back to here. Most of the stories came from tourist visiting the city who claimed to have heard it from citizens of Odiaba, so when they got back home they shared it online, like it was some kind of folk story or local legend from the city. Many of them seemed to think it made the city seem… quaint," Koji added without the courtesy of looking back towards those he was talking to.

"Stories of giant digital monsters roaming the streets… some people have a weird definition of quaint," Zoe shook her head at the comical idea.

"I think they thought it was like urban legends that sprang up at the start of the digital age, when Odiaba was still a cutting edge city, to explain weird events. Like modern day ghost stories," Koji replied.

"Either way, we're going to wonder around some tourist spots and see if we can find the same storytelling that tourist reported. It's a long shot, but there's still a chance," Takuya concluded as he looked over their first location, a bustling city park.

* * *

"I can't remember the last time when the ten of us have gotten the chance to eat out together like this," Mimi cooed as she lifted a cup mocha coffee to her lips; a nice bit of desert after the lunch they had all eaten.

"If memory serves I think the ten of us have done it more often as of late, than everyone getting together," TK remarked as he leaned back in his chair, relaxing to let his meal settle.

"That's true. The ten of us have gotten a lot closer over the last couple years thanks to our kids becoming such good friends," Sora remarked on the situation.

Tai, Sora, Matt, Mimi, TK, Kari, Ken, Yolei, Joe, and Jun, the parents of the six Legendary Warriors, had been getting much closer over the last four years; closer than they were to many of the other Digidestined. The reason being that their children had become the closest of friends, which meant that they saw the other children a lot, which led to a lot of crossover between the parents; especially when the children were part of the same team activities, soccer, basketball, and such. The tens newfound closeness had led to many outings liked the lunch at the café they were enjoying at the moment.

"It is nice that we've all gotten so close, especially for me. I was never really a part of your group considering I was only Davis sister and didn't do anything close to the things you all did. Then, I married Joe here," at the mention of her husband Jun reached out and squeezed his hand, "but I still kind of felt like an outsider. But now I know all of you better than I know anyone else in the world. Times like these really make me feel like I do belong with all of you, despite that I haven't been through any of the stuff you have."

This time it was Joe's turn to lovingly squeeze his wife's hand in return; telling her that he couldn't be gladder to have her with him and his friends. "We couldn't be happier for you to be here too."

"Yeah, I couldn't be happier for you to be here with your husband," Matt laughed as he shot her a playful smile.

"Matt! We're both married. You can't be hitting on me now, but I did tell you my charms would eventually get to you," Jun slyly smiled at Matt.

The comment was enough to get the group laughing and recall days gone by. Jun's crush on Matt was a thing of the distant past, and had become a running joke among the group. It became a way for them to summon up the old days.

"Ahh, the good old days," Jun happily sighed as she wiped a tear from her eye that had swelled to life in the laughter. "Speaking of all of your good old days… how've things been going in regards to that? Especially after what I saw… what everyone saw on the news a few nights ago?"

Her question forced a deep sigh from the group. It wasn't a depressed one of surrender; just slightly dishearten over how much time had passed since they had started searching again. However, what was weighing them down at the moment was the video Jun had brought up that had gone out over the air two nights ago.

"We pretty much haven't made any progress since that video went public. All we've really been able to figure out is that there are digital signals and digital-like signals popping up within seconds of each other in places where we know digimon are fighting. It's all so little to go on," Ken answered.

"And so strange," Yolei added.

"But the weirdest part about it all was that video from two nights ago. We still can't figure out how someone got that much video of digimon fighting, or why they chose to broadcast it in the way they did," Tai finished.

"Why do you think they released all of that video? With that strange narration to go along with it," Jun questioned. The whole time she had been watching it with Joe she had had a sinking feeling in her gut about the reason behind it. It was a sinking feeling that matched each and every one of the Digidestineds feelings that night.

"Our best guess is that someone wants to make digimon know around the world… or at least in Japan since it was only broadcast within the country. Or it was to make people start to remember them. Either way, we can't figure it out. We just know it's something that can't be rushed… or at least shouldn't be," Tai responded, furrowing his brow in deep agitated thought. As someone who had to deal with public relations and the media for a good part of his adult life, especially now that he was considering politics, he could imagine how badly the news of digimon could go over. People tend to find it much easier to fear something than to accept it; and he couldn't imagine something harder to accept than combat ready monsters.

"While we're on the topic of the video… I know we haven't talked to JP about it, but what about all of you? Have you decided whether or not you're going to discuss what was on the video with them? I have heard some parents have had to do that with younger kids. You know, convince them that there's no such thing as giant fighting monsters," Jun looked to the others for advice on the subject.

"We haven't," Sora admitted. "We still haven't figured out what we'd say if they were to ask, but they haven't brought it up. I guess Takuya and Shinya are old enough to rationalize that something so _impossible_ could exist."

"Same here," the other parents added. The subject was something they actually feared in a way. They had no proof, besides from their digivices and old photos that could easily be called CG in the current day and age, to claim the truth. They really didn't want to be thought of as crazy by their own kids. On the other hand, they didn't want to lie to their children and tell them it was all fake; especially if they planned to one day show it to them if everything worked out.

"How sad is that? Us being almost glad that our kids don't believe digimon could exist," TK sighed as he stared up into the afternoon sky.

"It is quite a strange time for us. It has been for quite a while…" Tai remarked as he leaned back as well and let his thoughts drift off from the tough subjects.

* * *

"Five hours… Five hours of wondering around one tourist spot after another and not even a hint of a story about digimon or anything related to the digital world…" Takuya groaned as he collapsed onto a park bench with an annoyed sigh.

During the last five hours the six had explored a few parks, monuments, historical sites, and even a few malls; but despite their eavesdropping and careful attention they had found nothing they could tie back to anything of digital world origins.

"This has been going nowhere," Koji groaned, letting his usually cool mannerisms slip out of respect for the frustration he was feeling. "I stood there for over twenty minutes in the hot sun and listened to an old man tell me a story that I thought might be related to digimon. BUT it turned out to be about his DOG from twenty years ago."

"Hmm, a minute for each year," Takuya rolled his head on the back of the bench until he could chuckle in Koji's direction. Koji shot him an annoyed look in response, but Takuya just smile back and turned to Zoe on his other side. "How about you? Anything?"

"No… Nothing really happened on my end either…" Zoe sighed.

"What about those guys who wanted to take a picture with you?" Tommy interjected with a devious smile.

"TOMMY!" Zoe growled at the boy.

"What boys? You didn't let them, did you Zoe?" JP gave her a hurt look, fearing that she had.

"Of course not! They were pretty persistent, but they eventually gave up and left me alone," Zoe glared at JP for even considering the idea that she had agreed to take a pictures with a bunch of boys she didn't even know.

"They only gave up on following you because Takuya scared them off," Koichi announced, much to the dismay of the boy.

"Takuya…" Zoe uttered his name as she stared at him. As she stared at him, trying to figure out what his chasing off the boys meant, she fought off the blush her own fantasies brought to her face.

"I… I… I… Don't get me wrong, I…" Takuya just couldn't find the right words so he eventually settled on an angry glare in Koichi and Tommy's direction. He knew they had set him up completely for that one since they were the only ones around when he had confronted the four teen boys.

"You have become one of the schools idols, so you should get used to that kind of attention, especially since both your parents are famous. You should be prepared for boys coming up to you all of the time now," Koji remarked with a glance in her direction.

"I am…" Zoe couldn't believe what she had just heard. She knew that she was a good looking girl, but she never imagined she'd become a high school idol without trying.

"That's pretty funny coming from you, Koji. I saw all those girls who came up to you and Takuya with cameras when went past that cram school," Koichi laughed. During the course of the five hours the group was constantly breaking off into different sized groups only to come back together and change up again. They didn't really have a plan about how they were going to go about asking and listening to people, so they pretty much treated it like a school fieldtrip with no direction.

"Yeah, but a lot of them are imagining that Takuya and Koji are… you know… to-!" Whatever Tommy had been indicating towards was quickly ended with a kick in the back from Takuya that sent him into the grass. "I see someone can't take a joke…" The young boy began to laugh at the reaction he had gotten, but when he saw the death glare the two were giving him he quickly trailed off and went silent.

"How many girls?" Zoe glared at the two, but mainly at Takuya who was finding it difficult to think under her icy stare.

"Like you don't know," Koichi leaned in close to her ear and whispered; obviously alluding to the fact that Zoe had been keeping a close enough eye on one of them to answer her own question.

"Koichi… I…" Zoe tried to whisper back a defense, but when Koichi just chuckled and walked away she decided it was best not to continue to try.

"Takuya's kind of in the same boat with the whole famous parents thing. His dad was pretty well known back in the day and he's starting to get into politics. And his mothers a growing name in the fashion industry," Gatomon chimed in from Takuya's backpack. "It gives the two of them some real common ground."

"It does. It really does," Tommy smirked towards the two in question.

"You're suddenly being pretty quite over there, Takuya," Koichi commented when he caught sight of the strange look on their leaders face.

"Does anybody else hear that?" Takuya suddenly spoke up after being struck silent by the last conversation.

"Yeah," Gatomon answered in a much more serious voice.

"Hear what?" JP questioned as he was the only one who hadn't quickly gone quiet at Takuya's inquiry.

"Buzzing…" Takuya answered with a curious look as he tried to find the source.

"This is a park. And there's a lot of insects around," JP responded.

"They are the beating wings of insects…" Koji stood up along with Takuya from the bench and directed his attention to the sky.

"Really big insects…" Takuya finished as his eyes focused on something in the distant sky.

* * *

To be continued…


	21. Home Again: Part 4

**Chapter 21**

**Home Again - Part 4**

"How's this happening?" Takuya grunted angrily to himself as he continued to charge up the flight of stairs.

A few minutes ago the six Warriors short break in the park had been interrupted by an approaching threat. A threat which was descending upon the city from the skies above and the reason why Takuya was currently making his way to the roof of a thirty story building. All around the park the six were ascending different towers in an attempt to encircle the park which they assumed the digimon were heading for.

"How the hell did they get here without setting off a Rift warning? And what's with me and broken elevators! Is it just me?" Takuya continued to stew over his situation, but it quickly came to an end when the roof access door came into view.

Once on the roof the sound of buzzing wings returned, but Takuya ignored it and instead quickly drew his D-tector.

"BEAST SPIRIT EVOLUTION TO… BURNINGGREYMON!"

Takuya made sure to choke down his beast forms customary roar of arrival on the scene. The whole reason he had headed to the roof was to avoid anyone seeing his transformation, which is why it had to be such a tall building, so he didn't want to draw any more possible attention to him with a beastly cry over the populated city.

Coming out of his evolution his reptilian blue eyes instantly locked onto something on his right, sending him dashing to that side of the building, doing his best to avoid tearing up the rooftop with his weight and talon feet. Reaching the edge of the building he twisted with his arm extended out and his claws open. The arching rotation was perfectly timed as the claws caught three speeding yellow blurs as they attempted to shoot past, but ended up meeting the searing steel and exploded in bursts of data.

BurningGreymon took no time to admire his victory, instead he darted his eyes about the city.

"How the hell did this many Flymon get into the Real World without us noticing?" He took a moment to ponder as he tried to make mental notes of where all of the invading digimon were.

The swarm of buzzing Flymon in the sky, circling above the city in haphazard patterns weren't a big problem, even if there were a lot of them. The real problem was the ones scattered about the city below. The yellow insect digimon with orange wings and stingers were crawling around buildings and alleyways, like bees descending upon an abandoned picnic, slowly making their way to populated areas and big trouble.

"We need to hurry," was all BurningGreymon muttered before he stepped off of the roof and descended to the city below.

* * *

"ROSEO TEMPORALE" Kazemon cried as she charged through a back alley delivering a multitude of rapid kicks to the small gathering of Flymon. By the time she came out of the attack seven on the insect digimon dropped from the air and walls and impacted the ground with dull buzzes before vanishing in pops of data.

"Twenty so far and they're still coming. How are we going to stop anyone from noticing with this many?" Kazemon took a few seconds to catch her breath and look for a new set of targets. Glancing about she eventually spotted a few crawling down into an adjoining alleyway, meaning that her short break was over.

With a swift kick off of the ground the fairy digimon was back in the air, zipping across the street, striking a few Flymon with a couple of kicks before ducking into the next alley and going after the next group.

She meet the first Flymon with a double flying kick to the head, sending it rocketing backwards with the transference of momentum and directly into another one, crushing both against a distant brick wall and deleting both. Before the others could react to the Warrior of Winds sudden appearance she extended her hands towards the group and called out another attack.

"HURRICANE WAVE"

Tendrils of tornados erupted from her fingertips just as she swung her arms down, sending the small twisters wrapping around multiple Flymon. Once the gathering was ensnared she pulled her hands back, tightening the swirling winds and bringing the captured Flymon close enough together to enact the next part of her plan.

Kazemon released the twisters from her fingers a split second before she shot forward and dove into her own whirling sphere of gales. She came to an abrupt stop in the dead center of the whirlwind and went into a midair handstand as if the air beneath her were solid.

"TEMPEST TWIST"

She cried out playfully, bursting into a flurry of spinning inverted kicks, each one sending the target into the swirling wall of air before bouncing it back into more kicks. The furious assault last less than five seconds and eventually ended in a final powerful kick against a Flymon's abdomen that sent out a wave of pressure, blowing apart her ball of twisting wind and scattering the insect digimon who burst into data each time they collided with something. With that combo twelve more Flymon meet their end, but looking out over the city she could tell that it barely made a small dent in their numbers.

"Haaaa… Okay! Let's keep going!" Zoe inwardly sighed before slapping her hands to her digital face and cheering herself on before she took off for the next group.

* * *

"And then I said… What's wrong?" A woman in a blue dress questioned her friend who was holding her cell phone up to her ear. There was obviously no one on the other end since the two had been talking only a few seconds ago, but it still appeared as if she were listening for something.

"Don't you hear that buzzing noise?" The other woman answered before pausing to listen a little more. "I've been hearing for the last minute and I thought it might be coming from my phone… but I don't think it is…"

"Now that you mention it…" The woman in the blue dress remarked as she raised her own phone to her ear just as the buzzing grew much louder and shadows grew on their shoulders.

"EEEIII!" The two suddenly shrieked as a large white blur shot between them, kicking up a powerful gust of wind that whipped at their long hair and skirts.

"…What just…?" The two stared blankly at each other, just as oblivious to their ruffled hair and clothes as to the fact that the buzzing noise had suddenly grown much quieter again.

"That was a close one," Lobomon looked back at the two women from the alleyway before glaring angrily at the two Flymon struggling to free their heads from his grip.

The two Flymon had been mere moments away from attacking the two women before he had swooped in between and saved the day, not that the two citizens would ever know.

"What the hell were you two planning?" Lobomon tried to question the two Flymon, he even shook them violently once or twice to try and get their attention, but they only continued to mindlessly try and escape like animals caught in a trap.

"Fine… have it your way…" Lobomon sighed before lowering them down from his line of sight and squeezed down on their heads, crushing them with two simultaneous pops and banishing the small digimon in clouds of data.

From that finish Lobomon drew his blades and swiped them over his shoulder, cleaving the three that had tried to dive bomb him into multiple pieces before he leapt into the air and began jumping between the two faces of the buildings, back and forth to get higher and higher. He seamlessly slashed away at the Flymon while used changing variations of power and force to control the height he was at, he almost had as much control over it as if he were flying with wings. The aerial acrobatics finally came to an end two blocks away atop of a thirty story office building, leaving in its wake at the very least twenty-five dead Flymon.

"Got to keep going," Lobomon ordered his body, forcing himself to continue on without a short break to catch his breath. He knew that with each passing second the swarm got closer and closer to crossing paths with people, a very undesirable outcome.

* * *

"ELECTRON CANNON" MetalKabuterimon fired of his cannon for the twentieth time since he had transformed.

Before the group had parted ways to begin the Flymon extermination Takuya and Koji had assigned him a specific job; the one he was carrying out at the moment. Since his forms were mostly large and bulky, making it difficult for him to go unnoticed or even move around the city, they had given him the job of shooting down the Flymon that were still buzzing around high above the city. To achieve that goal he had located the tallest building in the city, rode the elevator to the roof, and transformed into his beast spirit.

His choice of building afforded him two beneficial things. First, if he was above all of the other buildings he didn't have to worry about anyone seeing his digital form blasting beams of energy into the sky. And second, it really cut the distance between his shots and their intended targets, really raising his accuracy.

"Come ooonnnnnn… now! ELECTRON CANNON!" He cried out again when his electronic sights locked onto a group of eight Flymon that had flown in close to each other.

The blast of yellow power, the color of the shot making it invisible in the bright sky from below, cut through the air and into the eight, blowing them apart with its heat and destructive force.

"All right! Another bullseye!" JP cheered his success.

To conserve his power and get the most out of his attacks MetalKabuterimon had been waiting for enough Flymon to get clustered close enough together so that he could wipe out at least more than three with a single shot. The strategy was really paying off at the moment. He currently had the highest kill count, already over a hundred, and he was still going strong. The only problem was that he thought that with how well everything was going for him he'd have been done by now.

"I could have sworn I've shot down more than there was flying around when I originally got up here," MetalKabuterimon tried to think about the situation while searching for his next target.

"ELECTRON CANNON" He unleashed another blast into the sky when six wandered close together within his sights.

"Something's going on here…" He gave a final sigh to the ominous thought before returning to his targeting.

* * *

"SHADOW METEOR" Echoed through the park as a deep purple sphere erupted from a shadowy cluster of trees, streaked across a small section of field and slammed into two Flymon, driving them into back into three more before the ball blasted through them and vanished into the sky.

"I never really thought I'd be the perfect covert operations type," Loweemon chuckled to himself as he ducked behind another cluster of trees, keeping an eye on the picnickers nearby who had been close to the strike but hadn't seemed to notice a thing.

Loweemon, like all the other Warriors, wasn't used to fighting a battle from cover since all of their battles until that point had been head to head conflicts between them and the servants of Lucemon or the Rifted. Guerilla combat wasn't something they ever really thought they'd be reduced to, but in broad daylight in wide open areas with people around called for all new strategies. While the others had been forced to rooftops and back alleys where luckily the Flymon seemed to be swarming, Loweemon had found a talent for moving through the shadows. He could sneak around and launch attacks in public areas as long as he remained hidden in the shade cast by trees and buildings.

Diving through a pair of trees he whirled around and puffed his chest out before calling out another attack, "SHADOW METEOR," sending another destructive sphere into a swooping Flymon, dropping another two along with it.

"_I wonder what's going on with these digimon. They don't seem to be act much like normal Rifted. They're avoiding populated areas in the beginning but then certain ones suddenly go on the attack. It's like they're trying to build up the courage to attack or something,"_ Koichi was quickly pulled from his thoughts by the sight of three Flymon dropping from their hiding spot in a tree across the field and lock onto some children playing soccer nearby.

"SHADOW METEOR! SHADOW METEOR!" Loweemon didn't hesitate to strike out with two quick blasts, not taking any chances that he couldn't finish three with one shot when children were involved.

After seeing the two blasts hit their mark Loweemon then shifted seamlessly from the ranged attack as he swung his spear over his head in an arch, splitting four Flymon who had attempted to dive-bomb him from the canopy of leaves above. He then twisted his body at a thirty degree angle and plunged his spear point through a large bush, which when withdrawn had two more Flymon impaled on it.

"Let's keep the pace up," Loweemon encouraged himself before moving on to the next patch of trees.

* * *

"FROZEN TUNDRA"

Kumamon felt the subzero point of his body drop through the air and pierce and slice through five Flymon that had been completely unaware of his presence as they crawled along a large drainage ditch.

The moment he touched ground he shifted his body back to its original form and drew his launcher and took aim at the different Flymon crawling and buzzing around him.

"BLIZZARD BLASTER"

The Warrior of Ice twisted around firing off a rapid-fire barge of deadly snowballs into the insect digimon, being careful to only hit the Flymon and not anything else around him, fearing what they shots could do if they went wild and hit people or buildings. By the time he was done thirteen Flymon fell to the dirty concrete in piles of slush before bursting into digital bits.

"Now where are all of you coming from?" Kumamon hummed to himself as the looked around.

"Ohh… great…" Kumamon sighed when he spotted the digital insects creeping out from a sewer culvert like bees from their nests. "I guess I don't have a choice, do I? It's a good thing that this form's still small."

"CRYSTAL BREEZE" Kumamon released a power gust of freezing wind from his lungs that course down through the canal and poured into the sewer which it barreled down and into the darkness, coating every surface it touched with a layer of ice.

"Here we go!" He tried to be enthusiastic about what he was about to do.

He raised his blaster and ran forward onto the ice which transferred his momentum into forward movement as he slipped across the ice. With the grace of a figure skater he flew into the sewers, now layered with ice, and began to ride the frozen twisting tunnels like a water slide. As he slid down embankments, banked around corners, and jumped over pits, he unloaded his lethal shots of snow against any Flymon who had survived the initial freeze.

"This is almost like one of those shooting rides they have at amusement parks, but with actually saving the city thrown in… and a bad smell…" Kumamon chuckled to himself as light began to fill the tunnel again.

The light grew brighter and brighter until the ice stopped and Tommy found himself standing at the edge of another culvert that overhung another system of drainage ditches. Reaching the end of the first system gave him a few second to rest his trigger finger and think; think about how despite the number of Flymon he had already taken out, combined with the large number he was sure the others had, the number of Flymon didn't seem to be decreasing. However, he didn't get a chance to think too much about it since the high pitch whine of the many wings below him made concentrating impossible, so he resigned himself to continuing his assault.

"As Takuya would say, this doesn't feel right," Kumamon sighed and glanced back over his shoulder to the sewer he had turned into a tomb for a good forty Flymon before he leapt down from the culvert and down to next drainage ditch in the system, ready to repeat his earlier wild ride.

* * *

"LOBO KENDO" Lobomon roared as he hacked a path through a small swarm of ten, venting a bit of his building frustration on the insect digimon.

Before the digital bits of the digimon could even fully vanish he found another group of ten come buzzing over the wall of the empty parking lot, maybe looking for the same thing as the ten before them.

"They just keep coming!" Lobomon growled as he took off charging across the parking lot.

"LOBO K-!" Lobomon's attack came to an abrupt end when a large burning dragon digimon came crashing down on the Flymon. Those that weren't crushed upon his landing were burned to a crisp by the raging flames pouring off of his body.

"They were mine, BurningGreymon," Lobomon lowered his swords and glared at the Warrior of Flame.

"Sorry about that," BurningGreymon chuckled, obviously not meaning his apology.

Normally, neither one of them would care if someone stepped in and eliminated a few targets… they just didn't like it when one of them did it to the other. The two of them had their rivalry to think of after all.

"So, why are you here? You look like something's on your mind," Lobomon noted as he swung his sword back behind him, blindly slicing three Flymon that had tried to take advantage of his seemingly distracted moment. The poor things never knew that he was never unguarded in a fight until the last seconds of their existence.

"What makes you say that?" BurningGreymon stopped looking about and looked into the Warrior of Light's eyes, quickly finding his answer there. "I guess you've been asking yourself the same questions I have."

"Yeah, and we've both probably come to the same conclusion. The number of Flymon hasn't been dropping no matter how many we delete. They actually seem to be increasing," Lobomon replied as he watched a few of the digimon crawl along the roof of a distant building.

"Exactly. And it won't be long before they get brave enough to venture into the more populated areas," BurningGreymon followed up.

"They do seem to be avoiding people at the moment. They've probably never seen anything like people before and are wary of them," Lobomon called on his observations so far to explain the situation.

"Unfortunately, I doubt that'll last. All it'll take is one brave Flymon and then they'll all be doing it, and from there they'll definitely be seen by people… if they haven't already," BurningGreymon sighed. "But getting back to the real problem…"

"The reason for their increasing numbers," Lobomon summed it up.

"Yeah, and what we're going to do about it," he rejoined.

* * *

"Hey, MetalKabuterimon," BurningGreymon called to the blue tank of a warrior.

"I was hoping someone would come by… hold on a second… ELECTRON CANNON," MetalKabuterimon discharged a shot into a group of seven, deleting them, before turning his attention back to BurningGreymon. "How are things going below?"

"Things are going fine… but I don't think we're making any headway. I just can't figure out why," BurningGreymon remarked as he walked around the edge of the building, trying to get a complete view of the situation below.

He could see the other four Warriors cutting, kicking, and elementally crushing their way through the Flymon; but for every block they cleared more seemed to sneak into the adjoining ones. This battle was quickly becoming a war of nutrition, with the enemy numbers seemingly going up with the Warriors power slowly ebbed away.

"I'm having the same problem up here. I shoot down seven or eight each time, but when I go to look for more targets it seems like the total number up there's gone up," MetalKabuterimon shared his concern as he tracked another small group of Flymon.

"Yeah, it's like we're not in control of the situation. It's just like when my dad and I were fixing our houses leaky sink and we made it worse. Water was gushing out of the leak faster than we… could… plug… it…" A sudden stroke of realization crossed his Takuya's mind. "MetalKabuterimon!"

"Ah, yeah…" MetalKabuterimon jumped, slightly surprised by how forcefully the Warrior of Flame had called out to him.

"How well can you see around the city with those eyes of yours?" BurningGreymon inquired as he narrowed his eyes and looked out over the city, checking if he could see what he was thinking about with his own eyes.

"My bionic eyes can see the whole city and a mile or so beyond… why?" MetalKabuterimon questioned, taking his eyes off of the digimon above and putting them on BurningGreymon, trying to figure out what he was doing and asking for.

"I need you to look for something," BurningGreymon curtly responded, maybe a bit annoyed about the fact that he couldn't find what he was looking for.

"So you want me to stop shooting the ones in the sky and look for… what exactly?" MetalKabuterimon lowered the charge in his barrel but didn't cancel it until he got confirmation from Takuya.

"Yeah, and what we're looking for is a leak," BurningGreymon responded.

"A leak? Are you talking about a Rift?" MetalKabuterimon quickly made the connection to Takuya's line of thinking.

"No, Koji was right, if it were a Rift then our alarms would have gone off. I think this is going to be something similar to the digi-port we use to get to the Digital World, but this one's probably stuck open," BurningGreymon answered.

"Leave it to me, Taky. I'll find it if it's there," MetalKabuterimon voice turned very confident as he rolled close to one of the sides of the building and began scanning the city below.

"I knew I could count on you," BurningGreymon smiling towards MetalKabuterimon under his face plate, which would have gone unnoticed if not for his warmer eyes.

MetalKabuterimon fell quiet after that. His body locked up and the hum of his cannon died down as his eyes lit up bright yellow. With a mechanical precision he began to slowly rotate as he made a three-hundred- and-sixty degree scan of the city. Two-thirds of the way through his scan his treads locked up and he jerked to a stop.

"I… I think I found it…" MetalKabuterimon spoke up with a surprised tone.

"What is it!?" BurningGreymon jumped on the statement.

"I'm not sure… but it might be a… maybe you'd call it a hole in the air…?" MetalKabuterimon answered as he rolled up closer to the side of the building and leaned forward. "Maybe a hole in space would be a better description of it. Man, Taky… there is a lot of Flymon coming out of it," the Warrior of Thunder turned to look at BurningGreymon, his eyes conveying his genuine concern and confusion.

"Show me where," BurningGreymon order as he stepped up to the edge and looked out in the direction MetalKabuterimon had been looking.

* * *

After a few minutes of searching Takuya finally found Lobomon, halfway between where he had left from and the abnormality MetalKabuterimon had located, just as he cut down another four Flymon.

"Lobomon!" BurningGreymon called out as he descended to the rooftop Koji was attempting to clear of an infestation.

"BurningGreymon? What are you doing back so soon?" Lobomon gave him an annoyed glance. He wasn't angry at his friend, but the situation with the endless supply of enemy digimon was starting to wear away at his already thin patience.

"You were right. More and more Flymon keep coming," BurningGreymon remarked as he swung out his arms, clotheslining and crushing a few Flymon that had tried to come at him.

"So there's some kind of portal these Flymon are crawling out of," Koji got his reference right away. There was no need for a further explanation with the intelligent teen.

"Yeah, about a half a mile that way," BurningGreymon nicked his head in the direction JP had given him. "Apparently it's over a bridge near some old apartment building. They seem to be swarming out of some _hole in the air_ before taking off into the sky."

Lobomon paused to consider something a few seconds before his spirit evolution suddenly disbanded and he returned to his human form.

"Koji!? What are you doing?" BurningGreymon was completely surprised by his friend's sudden transformation. He couldn't imagine that it was voluntary considering they were in the middle of large scale invasion, but at the same time he couldn't think of anything that would end it when he only seemed slightly winded.

"I can't use my D-Phone while I'm Lobomon, so if I want to get in touch with Lady Ophanimon I have to take a time out. While I get in contact with her you carry me to the portal, hopefully I'll have finished my business with her by then," Koji replied as he pulled out his D-Phone and held down the zero button, the defeat speed dial for Lady Ophanimon on all of their phones.

"Right," BurningGreymon smirked beneath his faceplate as he picked Koji up in one of his arms.

"Stop enjoying this so much," Koji glared up at him in annoyance. He could see the enjoyment in BurningGreymon's eyes at the fact that he was going to be carrying him around like a doll or some kind of tiny purse dog.

"Can't help it," BurningGreymon chuckled before he took off into the air with Koji resting in one arm.

It only took the two of them a minute to reach the portal that the Flymon were pouring out of. It was just as MetalKabuterimon had described. It literal looked like a seven foot hole had been punched into the air just a foot above the ground. Encircling the hole was a large construction site where city workers had been digging up a road and a bridge to lay down new high speed cables. Beneath the bridge a buzzing swarm of Flymon hustled about, crawling on and around each other as they tried to build up the courage to take flight like many before them had.

"How has no one noticed this yet…" BurningGreymon found it hard to believe that the swarming construction site wasn't surrounded by gawkers and police, maybe even the military with how many digital invaders were milling about. "I guess it's just lucky that construction workers don't work on Sundays."

Knowing that they'd need to get closer to the abnormality to do anything about it he set Koji down outside the site before lifting back into the air and moved over the center of the work area. When he was satisfied with his spot he took in a deep breath and called upon his flames.

"WILDFIRE TSUNAMI" The roared went up, sending the raging flames crashing down on the swarm. Deeping the roar he twisted his body violently and swirled the flames, making them roll over the entire site burning all the insect digimon from the face of the city in a single blaze.

"It probably won't take long for more of them to start pouring out of that anomaly," before the flames had even died out Koji had jumped the fence and made his way to the digital hole at the end of the bridge.

"I'll see if I can head them off while you work out a way with Lady Ophanimon to close it," the Warrior of Flame stepped up to the portal and stared into its surface.

"Okay, we'll try and make it qu… Wait a minute! How do you plan to head them off!?" the answer to his question came before he could even finish when BurningGreymon dove into the portal.

"ARE YOU INSANE!? HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU CAN GET BACK FROM WHEREVER THAT LEADS TO?" Koji's cool demeanor broke down into a shocked fit of agitation.

He had never considered trying to pass through one of the rifts, mainly because just as fast as they tended to appeared they seemed to disappear, so it was never an option. However, this didn't seem to be one of the rifts they'd been dealing with for the last couple of years and was instead some kind of opening. And since the Flymon seemed to be coming out of the portal just fine it probably meant that Takuya would be fine; or at least that's what Koji kept telling himself.

However, Koji's worry didn't last long when BurningGreymon suddenly burst back out of the portal covered in a dozen Flymon ten seconds after recklessly diving in.

"GET OFF OF ME!" BurningGreymon roared, throwing out his arms and ejecting flames from the joints in his armor, igniting and incinerating the Flymon.

"Back so soon? Did you have fun on your little trip?" Takuya could feel the sarcasm dripping from Koji's tone.

"Shut up!" his response was an annoyed grunt before it turned more serious. "We really need to close this thing fast."

"Why?" he pulled his ear away from the phone long enough to give him his full attention.

"It's a hive! That portal leads right into the center of a massive Flymon hive. There had to be thousands of them, and that's only the ones that I could see in my short little visit," BurningGreymon huffed to catch his breath after the shock he had been given. The Flymon weren't a real threat individually or in small groups but in a swarm they could even be the downfall of a Legendary Warrior. "I think the ones we've been seeing are the ones who accidently flew into the portal while moving around the hive."

"Great… Lady Ophanimon, did you hear all of that?" Koji did his best to stay cool and calm despite what they had just learned.

"Yes, which will actually make this much easier. Now that I know that it's a digital portal, which I can close, and not a rift, which I can't do anything about, and I have BurningGreymon's short visit to ping the location of it in the digital world off of, it shouldn't take me long at all," Lady Ophanimon went quiet for a few seconds after that before coming back with more. "And there. Now, Koji, hold your D-tector up to the portal and I'll take care of the rest."

"Right, it's up," he responded by hoisting up his D-tector and pointing the screen at the portal.

The moment it was up the screen released a powerful flash, blinding the two for a few seconds, but when their vision returned the portal was gone.

"It's gone… That was it!?" BurningGreymon balked at the empty air where the portal had once floated.

"Yes… What's wrong?" Lady Ophanimon questioned over the phones speaker.

"I… I just expected… more…" BurningGreymon still couldn't take his eyes off of the empty space. "It kind of felt… felt…"

"Anticlimactic," Koji finished for him. It would seem that the sentiment was shared between them.

"Sorry…" Lady Ophanimon didn't really know what to say about their complaint.

"It's cool I guess," BurningGreymon gave a depressed sigh as he looked back to the city.

Koji disconnected the feed to Lady Ophanimon and activated his D-tector. "Whatever, now that the portal's closed their numbers should finally start going down so we need to get back to cleaning up the rest of the Flymon."

* * *

The work to track down and delete the remaining Flymon in the city went pretty quickly after the closing of the portal. The warriors had plenty of time to grab a dinner at their grandparent's places, pick up their stuff, and make the seven-o-clock train home. However, during that time something had happened, something that was weighting on a few minds.

Takuya paid no attention to the colorful scenery rushing by outside the train window. Instead, he appeared to be studying his own reflection, but that was only an outer observation, and far from the truth.

"You still thinking about that? You can't even enjoy the short trip home if you're hung up on it like Koji," Zoe nicked her head in the boy's direction, eliciting a quick unhappy glare from him.

When Takuya didn't respond Zoe tapped him on the shoulder, shaking him from his deep thoughts. "Did you need something, Zoe?" Takuya stared at her with a bit of startled confusion.

"No, I guess since you didn't hear a word I said, it answers my question," Zoe sighed behind a small smile. She knew Takuya well enough to know when he was shaken from his daydreaming and when it was deep thoughts.

"I'm guessing it had something to do with me not being able to stop thinking about what we heard?" Takuya smiled at her exhausted attitude towards his preoccupation with the bit of information.

"Yeah, but I can't blame you. Anyways, look at Koji and Koichi," Zoe pointed to the two seats across from them where the twins were sitting perfectly alike. They were sitting up straight in their seats with their eyes closed and no expressions on their faces. Just like Takuya they were completely lost in reflection and thought. "They've been like that from the moment we all sat down."

"I don't really know what all of that means… or if it's even true, but I do know one thing. This changes a lot of things about what we knew," Takuya sighed, his eyes portraying a mixture of confusion and strangely, wonder, as he leaned his head back and stared up at the train cars textured gray ceiling.

* * *

A few hours ago, just after the Warriors had finished putting down the last of the swarm of Flymon.

At the end of the fight the six Warriors ducked into a blind alley and ended their digivolution, before sneaking out and joining the crowd of people hanging around the outskirts of a crater in the asphalt made during the battle. It could have been caused by either side in the battle, but who caused it wasn't important. What was important was that it was among the destruction in a public place so some of the people amassed around it might have seen who and what had caused it.

The Warriors had original joined the crowd to avoid the suspicion of being the only people walking away from an interesting scene. It might have been a case of them being overly cautious considering it was highly unlikely that anyone would suspect them of having been involved, but it also provided them with a chance to find out what people had seen of the battle. If there was one thing someone could count on in a crowd, it was that people talked about the reason while it was still fresh.

"Seriously, man, did you see those things?" A teenage boy leaned closer to the man next to him and asked.

"Yes… but I'm not sure what I actually saw… and where did they go?" The man answered back.

"I don't know either. I saw a bunch of blurs and… big bugs I think…" The teen responded, scratching the back of his head in confusion as he did.

"_Nothing here with these two,"_ Takuya chuckled to himself as he and the others continued shifting through the crowd.

"Did you see those things?" One excited citizen whispered to the people next to him.

"Yeah, they looked like giant bees. They had to have been part of some kind of stunt, right?" One of the others responded.

"You mean like holograms or robots?" Someone responded to her.

"_Again nothing," _Takuya inwardly sighed before moving on.

The six moved through the crowd listening for anyone with something interesting to say. For the most part people talked about hearing explosions and seeing big bugs and large humans in costume, but for the most part they were all pretty clueless about what they had actually seen. Who could blame them for not understanding something they had never seen before. People tended to rationalize things down to what they could understand and accept, hence the robot and hologram ideas.

The warriors had almost given up on the crowd when an old man spoke up and caught their attention, his words bringing them to a silent stop.

"This reminds me of years ago…" The old man mused of the past as he stroked his gray beard. "There were monsters running about the city causing all kinds of trouble. I remember when that fog rolled in… well, I don't remember much after that… but I do remember those kids who fought them."

"Kids who fought them…" The warriors whispered the most jarring part of what he had just said to each other. They had expected to hear something related to digimon, but not what they had just heard; other children who fought digimon. Others who might have been like them.

"Sir… could you tell us more," Takuya voice came out a bit too excited, unable to hide his interest, but the old man seemed to enjoy the idea of sharing his story.

"Of course. That's what's wrong with your generation these days. They don't take enough interest in what others have to say, so it's nice that you and your friends do. Good for you. I remember these teenagers a few months ago that," the old man prattled on for a bit after that until Takuya took it upon himself to get the man back on the right track.

"Sir, on behalf of my generation I apologize, but could you go back to what you said earlier," the anticipation was killing Takuya.

"About those teenagers? Sure. Well, you see they-"

"No, not about the teenagers," Takuya couldn't take that story again. "About the children from years ago. The ones who you said fought the monsters."

"Ah, them, of course. I don't remember their faces or much of what they looked like, but I do remember them taking on the monsters. People said I was crazy and dreaming, maybe even senile, when a few years ago I suddenly remember the monster attacks. It was like some kind of veil was pulled back from my mind and I could remember the attacks as clear as day. As well as those heroic children who fought to save the city," the old man tapped the end of his cane hard on the concrete every time he swore to the validity of his claims and memories.

* * *

Back to the train ride home.

"It makes sense…" Koji finally broke the silence without looking down from the ceiling.

"What does?" Takuya felt intrigued by his sudden statement; mainly because he could have been talking about anything.

"We went to Odaiba to confirm that digimon had once appeared there, but we never thought about how they would have been taken care of," he rejoined finally lowering his gaze to look at the others and take in their responses.

"I get it," Koichi put his chin in his hand as he thought more about what his brother was saying. "If we were needed to stop the problems in and coming from the digital world, then other kids would have been needed to deal with the incident in the past."

"Wow, other Chosen Children than us," Tommy remarked leaning back in his seat as he thought about the idea.

"They'd actually be adults by now. That was like more than thirty years ago," Zoe corrected the boy.

"Wait, wait, wait, if there were others chosen decades before us, wouldn't someone have mentioned that to use. Everyone kept telling us that we were the first humans to ever come to the digital world," Takuya threw in a valid point. He assumed that with how long they'd been dealing with the digital world that someone would have mentioned children fighting to protect both worlds before them. Their exploits should have been the stuff of legends, just like the warriors before them, and their own achievements.

"That's a good point," JP nodded in agreement with the others, except for Koji that is. He seemed to be pondering something that was taking up a lot of his attention and thought.

"What if it predates what anyone knows about the digital world," Koji spoke up with his hypothesis. "I mean when we first went to the digital world we were there for months and less than an hour passed in the real world while we were gone. It was only when the digital world was reformatted after the fight with Lucemon that its passage of time began to match the real world. Who knows how many millennia could have passed with the previous time difference over the course of more than thirty years."

"We could have actually found something out that outdates the entire recorded history of the digital world… That's pretty cool," Takuya laughed at the possible importance of what they had accidently stumbled across. "Guys, we have to learn more."

"Wow, Takuya's actually excited about learning something," JP's comment managed to pull some laughs from the others.

"Shut up," Takuya retorted, too caught off-guard to come up with a witty response.

"A good place to start would probably be with asking Lady Ophanimon," Koichi suggested.

"Then I guess I know what where doing after school tomorrow," Takuya smiled, not even the idea of having the school the next day could dampen his spirit and interest over their discovery.

The Warriors have taken a big step towards the truth hidden between child and parent that has tied them to the digital world since birth, but despite their discovery and new direction a barrier known as the passage of time stands between them and the past, and the truth with it.

A home coming awaits them all in the coming days.

* * *

To be continued…


	22. Pictures and Purge

**Chapter 22**

**Pictures and Purge**

"I'm home," Takuya called out into the house as he stepped inside and set his bag down by the door. He had already let Gatomon out in the lawn so that she could stretch her legs a little before slipping in his open window on the second floor.

"Takuya!" The first response he got was his mother's frantic utterance of his name a second before she came running down the hall to meet him.

"Mom…?" he was taken aback by her suddenly cupping his face in her hands and shifting his head about as if she was looking for something. "Is something wrong…?"

She didn't answer and instead released his face and began examining his arms by feeling and pulling at them.

"Mom, you're starting to freak me out," he had no idea what to think.

"You're not hurt are you?" She finally spoke again after releasing his arms and stepping back to get a better look at him.

"I'm fine mom. Why?" Takuya's mind raced to figure out her strange behavior and questions.

Sora had been watching her son's face suspiciously from the first question, but his confused response seemed to have satisfied her concern and her expression softened.

"It's okay," she released a calm sigh as her body and mind relaxed. "After the news reports I was concerned that you might have been caught up in it."

Takuya felt a twinge of uneasiness course through his body at her words. His mom wasn't a person to worry unnecessarily, so she must have had a good cause and that reason seemed to center around some news reports, which were another thing he felt anxious about. They sounded like trouble.

"What news reports?" He could already think of a few things that they could have been about, but he could still hope he was wrong.

"Wow Takuya… You were in the city when it happened and you didn't even notices. I knew you tended to be oblivious to the things around you, but you've taken it to a whole new level," Shinya laughed from his seat at the kitchen table.

"You know what," Takuya glared at his brother. "I get that negative stuff from Koji all day, and he's way better at it than you are. So do you really think that bothered me?"

"You're no fun," Shinya had hoped to get a rise out of his older brother, but he didn't bite so Shinya went back to his school book. Takuya had spent too much energy fighting and thinking today to get into it with anyone anymore until he had at least gotten some sleep.

"Starting over… Mom, what news reports?" He returned to his original line of questioning.

In response his mother nicked her head towards the living room. "Go check."

Having an idea as to what he was about to see he left the kitchen and headed for the living room. He set his backpack, stuffed with notes and paperwork he had gotten from the TV station, down by the foot of the stairs before entering the room.

Against the far wall he could already see that the flat screen television had been left on, his mom had probably been watching it right up until had had gotten home. The voice of a female news caster was making some comments and remarks about the video being display on the screen at the moment, however, he wasn't paying attention to her. At the moment all he cared about was the images on the screen.

"Not as bad as I thought it might be," Takuya whispered to himself. He had stood there for a few minutes already, praying that the pictures and videos of the damaged parts of Odaiba wouldn't include anything related to digimon, and so far, he hadn't seen anything.

"What was that?" Sora's inquisitive tone cut in over the reporters.

"It's nothing! I'm just surprise that I hadn't heard about this until now…" He had apparently been too distracted to notice that she had stepped in beside him and the surprise of it had forced a stuttering cover response.

"Okay. I'm just glad that you weren't anywhere near any of that trouble," she put an arm over his shoulder and hugged him against her side.

"Even if I was mom, you know I know how to get myself out of trouble," he chuckled back.

"You do seem to be good at that. Just like your father," she gave a reminiscent sigh at the comparison. To this day she couldn't count how many times Tai had gotten in and out of trouble, and when you're a Digidestined trouble took on some pretty scary forms from time to time.

Sora returned to the kitchen while Takuya continued to watch the news broadcast for another few minutes. _"If they had any pictures or credible stories of digimon they'd have talked about it by now… I guess we dodged a bullet on this one."_ When he was satisfied with his assumption he turned off the television and headed for the stairs.

"Mom, I'm going to my room. Just call me when dinners ready," he didn't even wait for a response before he hoisted up his bag and headed up the stairs.

"Okay, but you and your brother are on your own for dinner tonight," she answered back and waited for the sound of his footsteps to stop and the inevitable question.

"Why…?" He asked from halfway up the stairs.

"Your father and I are going out to meet with some friends and we're going to be out late. There are leftovers in the fridge and I want your brother in bed by nine. You to use your best judgment as to when you should go to sleep," she explained and waited for confirmation that he had heard her.

"Understood," he rejoined before making his way to his room.

He closed the door to his room with his foot and twisted the lock on before he set his bag down on his desk and went to the window. With a click he opened it and a light gust of summer wind blew in along with Gatomon.

"What's with the look?" She inquired as to the expression on his face. It was a slightly bothered look mixed with tiredness.

"It's nothing really. We actually should have expected it," Takuya sighed as he took a seat on the bed.

"Expected what?" In a single leap Gatomon went from the windowsill to the bed beside him.

"There was some news report on TV about what happened today," Takuya began stroking her white fur as he explained. "There weren't any pictures of digimon, so that probably means were safe on this one, but it was stupid to believe they'd just gloss over the whole part about the city getting damaged."

"That plus the video from a few days ago is going to put some people on edge," Gatomon rejoined between purrs.

"Yeah… Things have been getting weirder and weirder these days," he laid back into his bed and stared up at the ceiling. "A rogue Digital Portal. A giant hive of Flymon. Past digimon invasions in Japan… and other children before us who put a stop to it all."

"Yes. Very strange times," Gatomon had to agree.

"I wonder who they were…?" That thought kept Takuya's mind busy through much of the night.

* * *

It had been a month now since the adults had all come together to discuss the topic of digimon. There had been phone calls and meetings between a few members, but after what had been all over the news this one had become a necessity. So once again they were gathered in Izzy's basement waiting for the meeting to officially begin.

While they waited a few friendly talks started as they tried to kill time and catch up. A particularly interesting one seemed to be starting up between Sora and Mimi.

"So Sora~" Mimi playfully sung, obviously believing she was going to enjoy whatever discussion she wanted to start.

"Yes, Mimi~" Sora happy responded with the same tone.

"It seems that the kids met the grandparents," Mimi smiled slyly.

"Yes, I heard. Tai's mom couldn't stop talking about how sweet of a girl Zoe was. So polite and pretty. And sociable too. My mother said pretty much the same things," Sora smiled back. She had always liked the young blonde since the first time Takuya had brought her home, so she was glad that the feeling seemed to be mutual among the family.

"Matt's dad also seemed to like Takuya. He raved about how respectful and funny he was, if not terrified of him. But what he really noticed was how well Zoe and him got along," Mimi giggled at the thought along with Matt's depressed sigh. It would seem that he had hoped that his father would be on his side, or at least not gossip about the developeding relationship.

"Tommy said that the two of them spent most of their time in the city together. Almost like they were going out on dates," TK added, knowing full well that it was picking on his brother.

"They seem to be getting pretty close lately," Kari remarked on her husband's comment.

She had no interest in messing with her brother-in-law, but she was intrigued by what was happening with her nephew and niece. She hadn't really seen much of Zoe when she was younger since Matt and Mimi were in living in Italy at the time, but she had seen a lot of Takuya. He had been born two whole years before Tommy, so she had been able to lavish him with all her motherly love which had no direct outlet. This made her feel much closer to him than any of the other children, with the exception of Tommy that is.

"They have," Mimi beamed brightly. "Isn't it great."

"Great… yeah…" Matt grumbled as the truth became more and more inevitable.

"That's probably enough of that. How about we get this meeting started," Tai had originally intended to jump in on the conversation and take a few jabs at Matt as well, some rivalry's never die, but after seeing how much it was getting to him he let it go. He even gave Matt an out by starting things up.

Tai's announcement seems to be enough to shake Izzy's attention away from his computer. "Yes, it's about time we do. I've finished compiling the news reports and social media posts about the recent incident it Odibia. And as you can see," the screens flickered to life and filled with images of the city they knew so well. The pictures were of lightly damaged streets and buildings, nothing that suggested an alien source, but they knew better.

"Are these really all of the pictures there are?" Tai got up from the couch and closer to the screens, seeing if a closer look would let him spot something he had missed.

"Yes. Each one of these came from people's cell phones and after they occurred," Izzy responded with a tired sigh. It would seem that something was bothering him. It was most likely tied to whatever he had been working on for so long on his computer while they all had talked.

"Only cell phone cameras? What about security and traffic cameras? Aren't those all over Odibia?" Joe inquired.

In the modern age they lived in it was pretty rare for there to not be camera's on every street corner and building entrance, especially in a large city like Odibia. The lack of camera's, digital eyes watching everyone, was one of the reasons why they had all moved out to the suburbs of Shibuya. No one was more aware of the devices presence than them; and they really didn't like the idea of being watched all the time.

"They are, but these are the only ones whose images were unaffected," Izzy answered without looking in Joe's direction. His eyes remained fixed on the screens, intently focused on them like he were looking past the images to the digital coding below.

"Unaffected?" Matt really felt like that claim needed a bit more of an explanation.

"Everything in the city but peoples cellphone camera's seem to have been erased and rerecorded over for the time of this incident," Izzy's focus was still glued to the screen.

"Everything? How's that possible?" Yolei jumped to her feet at that claim. Her understanding of technology and computers might not have been as good as Izzy's, but she knew when something sounded technically impossible.

"I have no idea how they did it… but I know they did it. The moment these reports began coming in over the net I started hacking into the city cameras, hoping that I could see something about digimon so we could be ahead of the problem when the images became public… but the time between 3:52 and 4:30 had been replaced by footage from after 4:30. After the first camera I began checking others and found the same thing. After two hours of that I could only come to the conclusion that someone hacked into them all so that no one could see what had actually happened. The cell phones were probably safe since they were too great in number and moving around…but for all I know they could have been hacked as well. It's just that checking all of them without knowing who was actually there would be far too difficult."

"How long would it take someone to do that? Hack into all of those cameras I mean," Tai had to ask since it seemed to be the question Izzy was moving towards.

"I would have thought something like that could only happen in movies, so I not sure. What I do know is that it took me four hours to access about five percent of the cities cameras and I don't mean to brag, but I'm good. But according to the real imbedded timestamp in the programming I found behind a layered false timestamp, whoever did this, did it in a matter of minutes. They had to have hacked every network feed in the city simultaneously, jumped them back to the start of the incident while erasing what had already been record before starting the recording again, and finished it up by implanting false data and virtually erasing their tracks," Izzy sounded both frightened and impressed by the feat.

"But you were able to tell," Sora remarked with a smile in the programmers direction.

"Only because I knew something was missing. If I didn't know that this had to be a digimon attack. That those camera's had to have caught something. And I hadn't been hacking into them through the same route as whoever did this. I hate to admit it, but I wouldn't have been able to tell," Izzy sighed as he sank dejectedly into the couch, taking Tai's old spot beside Sora.

"Meaning?" Tai glanced to the man, knowing there had to be more.

"Meaning… I can't track them. Meaning they have to be seriously good, or have some really, really, powerful computer to work with. Or it could even be a combination of the two. All I do know is that whatever they have it's a lot better than what I have, and my stuffs cutting edge. Most of it's hand-made and ahead of the curve," Izzy leaned his head onto the back of the couch and sighed. He was frustrated that he was losing a hacking battle to someone who probably didn't even know he existed.

Little did Izzy know that the one responsible for the whole thing was well aware of him. Much of their skill had come from studying his work and adapting his technology and programs. The only edge they had that made them so much better was the situation they were in. The position they held over digital technology and the net.

"So nothing?" Tai really hoped that wasn't the end of it.

"Unless I want to check every camera database in the city and scour their code line by line, which could take me weeks or even months, hoping that they left some kind of footprint, which I'm pretty sure by the level of skill I saw they probably didn't. I just can't image it would be worth it," Izzy didn't like what he was saying. He didn't like to admit he had hit a dead end in the digital realm, but every bit of his knowledge told him it would lead him nowhere and that he was better off using the time he would waste on exploring new avenues.

"So that leaves us with only the cell phones," Tai could only hope that they would offer some kind of answers. "Is there anything good there?"

Izzy let out an exhausted sigh, built up after hours of searching, before he answered. "I spent the last few hours before we started combing through the pictures people have posted online… and I haven't found much. Most of the photo's are like these…"

The images on the screen changed to pictures of people standing in front of or in damaged sections of roads and buildings. People seemed to be either posing, as if it was some entertaining event that was all in fun, while others held out arms and legs, showing how big the holes were. The latter of the gambit of people seem to be concerned and trying to come up with explanations for what had happened.

"As you can see, most of these were taken in the aftermath," Izzy concluded before he tapped one of the screens and the pictures faded back into the black they had arisen from.

"Now these…" Izzy tapped a folder on the screen, unpacking the images onto the screens. Unlike the first batch this set was much smaller, only about twenty in number, but despite their number they had a large variety of subjects.

There were pictures of families posing with each other, wide grins on their faces as they enjoyed the city sights. Others were of couples, snapping a photo from an outstretched arm as they tried to catch their happy moment of film. The rest were photos of buildings, parks, animals, and other miscellaneous things people must have thought were worth the memory space on their cameras.

"Uhhh… what are we looking at?" Davis got closer to the screen and looked the photos over, trying to make sense of the mixture of images.

"Using the time span that was erased from the city cameras as reference I was able to separate out all of the posted pictures that were taken during the time of the incident, and I was left with these," Izzy swept a hand towards the screens, presenting them to the group with a small measure of excitement.

"This is all there was during that time? There's like only twenty or so here," Yolei stepped up beside Davis and looked over the images as well. She found it hard to believe that in the span of nearly forty minutes, only a few pictures had been taken. There had to be close to a million people in the city, each most likely with their own camera cell phones… and only twenty pictures were taken.

"No," Izzy simply answered. "There were more like twenty-thousand, but these are the only photo's with them in them."

"Them?" Was the question on several of the Digidestined lips.

"Yes, them," Izzy's lips curled up into a smile. "Take a closer look at any of the photos. Don't focus on the foreground. Look to the background."

They all gathered around the screens to get better looks, seeing if they could catch onto whatever Izzy was hinting at. As they poured over the images a suspenseful silence fell over the room; one that would shatter with the voice of the first person to make the critical discovery.

"Blurs…" it would seem that moment had come with Ken's voice.

"Huh?" Davis glanced towards Ken, wondering if there was more to his statement.

"Exactly," Izzy stepped in beside Ken and smiled at pictures on the screens.

"Exactly, what?" Davis knew he was missing something now.

"There in every picture, Davis," TK spoke up with a sideways glance in the man's direction.

Davis gave him a questioning look in response before he leaned in closer to one of the images and looked intently around the background, ignore the couple in the foreground. Eventually his eyes crossed over a space between two buildings where the blue sky was visible. In the opening he spotted a pink blur flying between the two structures.

"A pink blurry thing…" he stated.

"Yes," Izzy smiled. "Most of the blurs in the pictures are yellow, but that one and the one near Sora are different."

"Red…" Sora noted, leaning in closer to examine the crimson blur before her. It appeared to be streaking across an alleyway and vanishing behind a building.

"What are they?" Cody directed his question towards whoever had an answer.

"They're motion blurs," Kari answered looking over the group, satisfied with her conclusion. "You get these whenever anything within the frame of reference is moving faster than the shutter speed of the camera. Considering how fast the shutter speed of digital camera is today… these blurs had to be moving pretty fast."

"I guess all those years of playing with cameras pretty much make you an expert on this kind of stuff," Yolei beamed at her best friend.

"Any idea of what caused them Izzy?" Tai took his eyes from the screens and focused them on the programmer. He had some guesses of his own already, but since Izzy had picked them out he wanted to hear what he had to say; especially since he had had hours with the pictures before the meeting had even started.

Izzy raised a hand to his chin, rubbing the dark stubble that had grown after having gone unkempt while he searched through the photos for hours. "Considering what we know must have happened in Odibia, my guess would be digimon. My educated theory would be that the yellow digimon are smaller than the pink and red blurs, and in greater number since they appear in most of the photos, some of which were taken at the same time."

"So there were a lot of them," Tai pondered the idea. Hearing that a swarm of digimon had descend upon their home town without them knowing until it was over was bad enough, but making it worse was the fact that even if they had known they wouldn't have been able to do anything about it.

His thought lead him back to an idea they had all consider over the last couple of months, ever since they had learned about the digital signals popping up around Japan. The idea was the fact that they had no means by which to control or confront the very beings they were looking for. If they did happen to run into a digimon during their search and it turned out to be unfriendly or evil, they could do nothing. This fact had been driven home when they had listened to Izzy, Kari, and TK retelling the story of their confrontation with the large digimon in the park. During its destructive rampage and battle against the two digimon, the three of them had been forced into the roles of spectators, unable to do anything to change the outcome of what they were seeing. It was thinking like that that lead them to one singular idea… that their situation had to change before something bad happened. They were after all the protectors of the Digital World… even if they didn't know that the role had been passed onto their children.

"And this is all we could get of them… man, that's a sad thought," Matt sighed.

"The good news is that this probably isn't all of the pictures. I'm sure that over the next couple of days more will surface on social media sites and news channels," Sora gave the image of the red blur a final unsure glance before turning to face the group.

"There also might be people trying to sell the kind of pictures we're looking for. There's a pretty big market out there for photos of celebrities and other oddities. We should know…" Mimi sighed, memories of the tabloid paparazzi who used to clamor over each other for a picture of her and Matt came rushing back. They had found the attention novel at first, but it quickly grew annoying. Escaping the flashing shutterbugs eventually became one of the many reasons they moved back to Japan.

"We can only hope that if better pictures do exist, that they don't add to the already heightened concern that's sprung up after those videos a couple of days ago," Joe's comment brought back memories of the videos that had gone out over the internet a few days ago. They hadn't been of the best quality, but they had clearly showed digimon battling other digimon in the real world. The fallout from the video's hadn't been too bad, most people citing it a CG stunt or some viral marketing campaign for a new anime, a rumor started by none other than Izzy himself. However, it had resparked debates in internet chat rooms and stirred the minds of those who had long forgotten the beings known as digimon.

"Speaking of that… Have you come across any indication of people actually remembering digimon?" TK direct his question towards Izzy.

"I've been keeping a close eye on news sites and chat rooms for any signs of people directly referring to digimon or the digital world, but I haven't come across anything concrete yet. As it is I'm confident that the memory wipe Gennai and the Sovereigns executed to erase the events of twenty-eight years ago, both evidence and memories, is still effective and no one has actually remembered. However, I am concerned that it has begun to weaken," Izzy answered, his eyes losing focus as he thought about the situation.

That was the reason. The reason why no one around the world knew of digimon. Despite of the fact that they had invaded locations around the world, that the digital world had been seen in the sky on multiple occasions, and battles had been fought and caught on film; still no one remembered. To secure the safety of the Digital World and the peace of the human world Gennai and the digital Sovereigns had erased the proof of digimon and the memories of the collective population of the real world. Thought incredible powers they had wiped away the memories of the trying events, leaving only those within those who were closely related to everything still intact.

This meant that the Digidestined, including those around the world, and the main group's families still remembered the events related to Digital World. But to everyone else, it was as if it had never happened. However, this also meant that the Digidestined weren't the only people looking and longing for their partners, lost in whatever event had closed off the Digital World.

"That's good," Tai sighed, sitting back down on the couch. He didn't even want to think about the panic that would ensue if people started to remember or believe digimon were real.

"But what about that incident you spoke about with me?" Ken glanced in Izzy's direction, obviously wanting to discuss whatever had happened.

"What incident?" Davis interest was perked.

"There was this one chat room conversation. There's this guy who runs a backroom chat room on the net who I really like. He's smart and seems to know a lot about programming and world events, so I stopped in to see what his take on everything was. He didn't really have much, nothing to indicate that he knew anything about digimon… but there were two there…" Izzy became quite at the end, his mind going over the conversation that had sprung up between the two unknown users. "I think they might have known about digimon, or at least things related to them. I could also just be paranoid with everything that's happening."

"Who do you think they were? The two I mean," Matt rested his chin in his hand, giving Izzy his full attention.

"I'm not sure," Izzy sighed. "They could know nothing, or they could be two of the many other Digidestineds scattered around the world… or…" he seemed hesitant to continue with his last thought.

"Or they could be a new set of Digidestined. One's who could actually have access to the Digital World," Tai seemed to have caught onto the direction of Izzy's thinking.

"Yeah, but I don't have any proof of that… It was just a feeling I got from the way they were talking," Izzy nodded in agreement, confirming Tai's suspicions.

"Couldn't you find out who they were?" TK questioned him.

Izzy might have only been a programmer and tinkerer in the real world, but on the internet he was a master. His name, his handle was more like it since no one was good enough to find his real name, was spoken with the highest respects; and nothing he wanted was secure enough or out of reach. If it could be done, they had always assumed that he could do it.

"No… That moderator I told you about is pretty good with his chat room security and does a really good job of keeping the participants information and IP's secret. He even clears the accessing route information on thirty second intervals… far too short of a time to get any metadata of any use. There's also the fact that they logged out before I could even begin to try and recover any information about them," Izzy actually seemed to be excited about the topic. He wasn't too happy about not being able to discover the identities of the two, but he did like the moderator's style. He was impressed by their skill and dedication to the craft of programming.

"Summing it up… Where does this leave us?" Tai leaned back in the couch and stared up into the ceiling.

It was already well past midnight and without any good leads or positive news their wills were starting to fade.

"Unless something else comes up… it leaves us exactly where we were before," Izzy sighed. He really wasn't enjoying spinning his wheels but going nowhere. This was one of greatest digital mysteries he had come across in years, but he just couldn't manage to find a path to start down. Every one of them had been blocked and he was being left with only the option to wait and brood over it.

"Except I feel that we have much more to worry about now," Matt remarked over the defeated silence that had fallen over the room. "The incident with Groundramon showed us that dangerous digimon were finding their way into the Real World. That situation could have ended really badly, and that was only one digimon, but this one seems to have involved multiple digimon. I have no idea how things only came out with some cosmetic damage to the city."

"They must be really skilled," Cody responded as if it had been a question.

"Who must have been?" Davis wanted an answer. Despite all of the years that had passed Cody had remained someone who often only spoke when it was important.

"The new Digidestined. If in fact they're the ones who stopped whatever happened in the city without raising a panic," Cody brought a hand to his chin as he considered how they might have pulled off the miracle victory without being discovered.

"Cody has a point. They had to be very good at what they do to avoid being spotted or found out with everything that's happened," Tai pondered the idea of the new breed of Digidestined who had taken up their fight. "I want to meet them even more now."

"The new Digidestined… with everything… happening…" Izzy's eyes suddenly lost focus as he mumbled to himself.

"Izzy…? You okay?" Yolei leaned closer to the man, trying to figure out what had happened to him.

"It's been them!" Izzy's sudden outburst managed to surprise everyone as the man shot to his feet.

Izzy remained quiet after that as a suspenseful silence feel back over the room.

"It's been them?" Tai finally grew tired of the silence and posed Izzy's words back at him as a question.

"It's been the new Digidestined this whole time. They're the reason why we can't get any closer to the Digital World and anything related to it," Izzy looked excitedly over the crowd of confused faces. "They've been covering it all up. Why didn't I see it before?"

The others just watched the computer genius pace back and forth as his epiphany driven revelation continue to unfold.

"Think about it," Izzy stopped pacing and looked back to the group. "For whatever reason their battles have been taking place in the Real World, not just the Digital World. Digimon battles in the Digital World are a common thing, but here, they'd cause a panic, so they had to come up with a way to avoid that outcome. The outcome of being discovered."

"Up until now we thought it was the enemy or the digital signals that were somehow affecting the digital technology around the sites of the battles," Ken jumped in as the same idea flared up in his mind.

"With all the conveniently offline at the time cameras and the slow response time of my digital detection program how could we think anything else. We believed that the enemy was trying to hide itself and hamper attempts to learn about it, but we never considered the opposite," Izzy locked his focus on Ken and continued.

"That it wasn't the enemy, but the good guys. The new Digidestined," Ken replied.

"That's right!" Izzy smirked and nodded his head in eager agreement. "With the situation they're facing covering up the digimon attacks would be as high of a priority as stopping the enemy digimon themselves. It would explain why we've been having so much trouble with our search, and why the scanners we installed around our area haven't yielded any results."

"Because what we're doing is being directly counteracted by the efforts of the new Digidestined to keep everything quiet and under wraps," Ken felt intrigued by the concept. "But how are they doing it?"

"They've had more time to work it out and plan for it than we have. They must have some kind of devices, or programs, or it could even be a specialized signal from the Digital World, but they are essentially crippling information gathering technology around the incident sites," Izzy mind seemed to be moving a mile a minute in excitement as his problems finally got some answers. "We just need to figure out how they're doing it and find a way to counteract it so we can learn something."

"Umm, Izzy," Tai stood up and placed a hand on the man's shoulder, getting him to pause long enough to get a word in edgewise. "The way you're talking right now makes it sound like it's us against them. You're kind of going to the super villain side of things. You know, you versus the good guys and all of that."

"I… I…" For a few seconds Izzy considered the idea that Tai was honestly worried about his actions, but the crooked smile on his face suggested that it was more of a joke. "I'm just talking about figure out what happening so that were not left in the dark. So we can act when the time comes."

"It would also put us in a position to help the new Digidestined. I don't like the idea of those kids being out there on their own when we could help them," Sora's motherly concern, once reserved for her own team, was now being shifted to the unknown group despite never having met them… that she knew of.

"It would also be nice to know how many of them there are and the enemy they're facing," Joe added.

"Okay, but let's be careful about how we go about it. I for one don't want to ruin their hard work and reveal digimon to the world. It never worked out well in the past. And I know that if I was in their shoes I'd be pretty pissed if someone came along and ruined everything, especially since as the previous Digidestined it would make us look really bad," Tai gave into the plan.

Normally Tai would be the first behind the plan, but he hesitated in this manner. It might have been the political side of him that held him back. It kept telling him that from what he had already seen, from people's reactions to the videos a few days ago, that a panic would ensue if digimon were suddenly revealed. A possibility he feared could happen when Izzy was more focused on the answers to his questions than the outcomes. He knew better than anyone that Izzy had been trying the hardest to reestablish the connection to the Digital World, to the point that it had become the man's white whale. He also knew the others really wanted that part of their lives back as well. He just didn't want to see any missteps in that pursuit. He was the leader and the leader has to think about the outcome of the group's actions and bear the responsibility of whatever it might be.

"But before we get started on all of that… Let's call it a night for now," Tai felt awkward being the sensible voice of reason in the room.

"Tai's right. We've all got families to get back to and things to do in the morning. Let's get heading home," Matt agreed as he helped Mimi up from the couch.

"Right…" Izzy sounded disappointed, but upon looking at the clock on his computer display he had to agree. "It would seem that two AM would be a bad time to start discussing plans."

"Until next time," Tai waved the group towards the stairs, calling the meeting to an official end.

* * *

"Hmmm," Gatomon stirred from her sleep at the foot of Takuya's bed. A noise close to the house and a flash of light had disturbed her.

With a single graceful and silent leap she went from the bed to the desk by the window and peaked through the blinds.

"It's just Takuya's parents," she whispered to herself as she watched the couple exit the car.

The noise had been the wheels on the driveway as they crushed tiny rocks beneath their weight mixed with the hum of the motor, and the light the flash of the headlights as they turned into the driveway.

"Back to bed I guess," Gatomon purred with every intention of making a quick return to her spot before it grew cold, but something kept her from moving. Instead, she just watched the couple below.

She had never really gotten a good look at them. The mornings before she went to school with Takuya were normally spent in hiding; it was the same with the evenings and weekends. The only time she'd see them was when she'd peek at them from her hiding spots to make sure they were gone. Even those rare times were fleeting and it was usually only their legs. But now, she was getting a full view of them since they didn't seem to be in any hurry to get inside and she was hidden behind the dark glass.

As she watched them have some kind of quiet conversation, too low for even her ears to pick up through the glass and the hum of Takuya's ceiling fan, her mind slowly began to slip away. _"They have the same feeling to them…"_

Her eyes remained on them for a few minutes until they walked in through the front door and her line of sight was broken. Instantly, her focus returned to her and she shook her head from side to side, trying to shake the lingering unknown thoughts from her head.

With a confused sigh she dropped back on her butt and stared blankly into the slotted, pale, white surface of the blinds. "I can't keep zoning out like that." She was meant to be the kids lookout, their constantly aware and always on guard watchman… watchcat… guardcat… Whatever she was, getting lost in her hazy thoughts like she was, was getting in the way of her job.

"Maybe Takuya's right… Maybe I have been to the real world before," at the mention of his name she turned to look at him, his face planted in the pillow and arm hanging over the edge, dangling an inch above the floor. "He said he and the others would help me try and find out the truth, but I wonder if he knows where to start. He mentioned Milady, but that seems to be their first answer to everything…"

Almost as if responding to her dig Takuya stirred a little and turned his face to the side so he could scratch his nose before he fell right back asleep.

"I guess I can trust them," Gatomon smiled before she jumped back to the bed and slipped beneath the covers. She knew she had to hide for the moment because living in the house had taught her one thing that happened every night.

A minute after diving under the covers she heard footsteps come up the stair and stop outside of Takuya's door. With a creak she heard the door crack open, telling her that Takuya's mother was peaking in to check on him. There was a satisfied giggle, she most likely found the position he was sleeping in to be comical, before the door clicked shut again and the footsteps moved away.

Gatomon let out a happy sigh before she slipped out from under the covers, flicked the lock on the door on with her tail so she'd have some warning in the morning, and curled up at the foot of the bed and returned to her slumber.

A new plan has been hatched by a new discovery. It's a plan that might put the old and new teams at odds; but what is sure, is that again they have gotten closer to learning the truth about each other.

* * *

**To be continued…**


End file.
